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U.S. Pumps Most Oil Since 1997 as Energy Independence Grows

Bloomberg -- U.S. oil production surged last week to the highest level since January 1997, reducing the country’s dependence on imported fuels as new technology unlocks crude trapped in shale formations.

Crude output rose by 3.7 percent to 6.509 million barrels a day in the week ended Sept. 21, the Energy Department reported today. America met 83 percent of its energy needs in the first 6 months of the year. If the trend continues through 2012, it will be the highest level of self-sufficiency since 1991. Imports declined 3.2 percent from the same period a year earlier.

A combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturin helped reduce America’s reliance on foreign oil. The same technology unleashed a boom in natural gas output from shale that pushed inventories to a record last year.

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Submitted Sep 27, 2012 By: MidNJ

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honda0105 Champion Author Tallahassee Posts:18,643 Points:1,611,470 Joined:Nov 2008	Message Posted: Oct 2, 2012 4:02:26 AM Ignore honda0105 Report Abuse INdependence is never going to happen in this century. LESS-dependence yes.
DanMtz Champion Author Oakland Posts:3,365 Points:1,245,375 Joined:Oct 2009	Message Posted: Sep 28, 2012 12:43:44 PM Ignore DanMtz Report Abuse Something tells me energy independence is a long ways off.
PDQBlues Champion Author San Diego Posts:7,084 Points:1,450,275 Joined:Jan 2009	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 9:20:02 PM Ignore PDQBlues Report Abuse US oil production is up, US gas usage is down, yet the price of gas is still too high.
Van_Halen Champion Author Atlanta Posts:2,855 Points:643,705 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 1:05:31 PM Ignore Van_Halen Report Abuse . According to the Prophet Obama, this just can't be true because we have less then 2 percent of the world's oil! What a loser Obama is.
sparky808 Champion Author Honolulu Posts:3,013 Points:600,660 Joined:Sep 2011	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 11:24:12 AM Ignore sparky808 Report Abuse Thank you for posting.
mrjames1818 Champion Author New Jersey Posts:1,555 Points:2,000,045 Joined:Mar 2004	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 10:13:04 AM Ignore mrjames1818 Report Abuse So then why are gas prices still so high????
jiml1965 Champion Author Harrisburg Posts:3,040 Points:692,075 Joined:Jan 2011	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 9:15:27 AM Ignore jiml1965 Report Abuse good news
puinsai808 Champion Author Honolulu Posts:3,554 Points:729,255 Joined:May 2011	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 9:06:33 AM Ignore puinsai808 Report Abuse ok
orphancarguyPE Champion Author PEI Posts:3,860 Points:736,940 Joined:Jan 2011	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 8:51:09 AM Ignore orphancarguyPE Report Abuse Gosh, statistics! The Bloomberg article has the SAME MISLEADING statement I have pointed out before--a case of starting out with apples, switching to oranges and hoping you won't notice what they did and question it, and then a switch back to apples. And its done TWICE in one paragraph! Crude output did rise 3.7% to 6.509 million barrels a day for the WEEK ending Sept 21st, 2012. Imports declined 3.2% from the same period a YEAR earlier. Make it year/year or week/week and it can make some sort of sense, but not this mish-mash of 'feel-good' stats. Also, this is about oil, not all energy. The US has a serious shortfall of OIL, not nuclear, not natural gas, not coal, not electricity (from all those sources, plus renewables like solar PV, wind, and hydro) It wouldn't matter so much except its expensive and difficult to switch from crude oil over to other things, when you are so dependent on refined crude oil for aviation fuel, gasoline and diesel. While it is technically true that the US now covers 83% of its energy needs, that is including all types of energy. The exact figures on OIL are quite quite different! Taken from EIA for the month ending August 2012. OIL 5.634 million bpd 48 states + 0.403 Mbpd Alaska = 6.037 Million bpd US prod. included with the oil production is 2.072 M bpd of 'NPGL' (natural gas plant liquids) for a total of 8.109 Mbpd. There is a further 11% from renewables such as bio-diesel, butanol (ie, bio-gasoline replacement), ethanol, methanol etc. There is also what is called 'processing gain' which is when you refine crude oil, you end up with more individual separate product than the amount of crude you started with, as some is co-mingled until refined. That is 1.116 M bpd, so the total 'oil' production is 10.130 M bpd. Now imports. Gross imports are even higher, at 10.781 M bpd, but not ALL of that oil was ever imported to be used IN the USA. The USA has spare refinery capacity, and does 'custom refinery work' for other countries, mostly in the Caribbean and other places in the Western Hemisphere. So, Americans get the jobs refining it for say, the Bahamas. Imported in, refined, re-exported--it never was part of the total US imports picture, not really. And no, when you look at the bigger picture, the US is not net exporting its OWN oil. The US was last able to export its 'own oil' around December 1970. The US exports 2.854 M bpd of 'oil', likely in finished form as gasoline, diesel, etc. So, out of all the imports, it 'uses' 7.916 M bpd. Add in the bookkeeping adjustments of -0.403 M bpd in stock (in other words, stock on hand average per day in August) and a correction to previous estimates of +0.703 M bpd, so the 'real' figure of inventory increased an average of 1.106 M bpd over 31 days during August, or a bit more less than half a day's extra supply on hand at the end of the month. The grand total of petroleum products supplied was 19,152,000 barrels per day or 593,712,000 barrels 'used' in August 2012. What does this mean? Well, it was only a moment in time (one single month) and it means little in itself. All I can say is that the US domestically produced 10.781 Million barrels per day of 'oil' (including some asterisk equivalents to oil) and net imported 7.916 Million barrels per day. When you compare actual crude oil production (less renewables and refinery gain for the moment) its just slightly larger than net imports of crude oil. Add them back in and the US imports 7.916/(19.152-1.106 for adjustments) = 43.99% of the oil needed to run the country--at least during the month of August 2012. At the peak of the boom around 2007 just before the banks and economies crashed in the (largely US caused) world-wide recession, the US was importing 60-61% of all the oil it needed. It has dropped to 44%. The change looks big, but it isn't all increased domestic oil production--far from it. Its a mix of increase, higher efficiency in all modes of transport (which is about 75% of all oil use), lingering economic slowness from the worst recession since the Great Depression, and consumers just not using as much ie carpooling, combining trips, foregoing road travel. When you consider that about a year after the crash, the figure was trending under 50% imports ie 2/3 of the drop in the import gap, you can figure out that actual increase in production was about 5-6% or a bit better than 1/3 of the decrease in imported oil. And THAT is over the last 5 years. So remember--when you hear or see wildly misleading statements like the US went from importing 61% of its oil to supplying 83% of its own energy in only 5 years--know enough to question the figures and how they are compared My own guesstimate is that--if the economy was fully back up to speed--the gap for OIL imports into the US would have dropped from 61% down to about 50-55% with US production supplying 45-50% tops. It makes more sense to compare year by year or decade by decade. Also, there is LOTS of oil available from fracking, but the process of being completely free of imported oil from overseas (imports from Mexico and Canada are not considered 'overseas' in view of many analysts and commentators) is going to be much longer and slower than commonly thought. Even converting partially to natural gas from gasoline and diesel for vehicles will cost untold hundreds of billions and take a decade or two.
IrishCowboy Champion Author Fort Wayne Posts:1,432 Points:573,225 Joined:Jan 2011	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 8:16:59 AM Ignore IrishCowboy Report Abuse Great, now we are getting more independent. So why is it costing more? You can't tell me it costs more to pump it here than it does to pump it over there and tanker it over here
daquanabe Champion Author Houston Posts:1,828 Points:375,850 Joined:Oct 2009	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 8:12:06 AM Ignore daquanabe Report Abuse Independence grows along with our gas prices.
kmurphy345 Veteran Author Toronto Posts:457 Points:152,055 Joined:Oct 2010	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 7:45:20 AM Ignore kmurphy345 Report Abuse ok
Houckster Champion Author Atlanta Posts:9,347 Points:693,500 Joined:Sep 2003	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 7:36:30 AM Ignore Houckster Report Abuse REDSKINGAS writes: And of course Obama takes credit for this even though the increase is due to private investors on private land. But then they didn't build that company, the government did. _____ First "redskin" is equivalent to "nigger" so I hope REDSKINGAS will reconsider his name. Secondly, Mr. Obama does deserve some credit in that, contrary to Hard Right claims that he is inhibiting development of our resources, US oil production is up. Apparently, EPA regulations are not that restrictive after all. The Obama administration has been pretty pragmatic about energy development in this country. If you have a good plan and can develop the resource safely, you can get a permit. As for energy production on federal land, a recent Washington Post article stated that deposits on federal land are pretty much optimally utilized and areas like ANWR will add very little to our supplies of oil.
Houckster Champion Author Atlanta Posts:9,347 Points:693,500 Joined:Sep 2003	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 7:29:03 AM Ignore Houckster Report Abuse STUDEBAKER1940 writes: Get ready for $6. Hopefully before November so he sheeple won't re-elect Obama or any current legislatures _____ Honestly, some people will do anything to blast Mr. Obama. And of course STUDEBAKER1940 is all-knowing and the rest of us are "sheeple". Maybe we should elect STUDEBAKER1940. Or perhaps, more importantly, STUDEBAKER1940 should come back to reality.
MikLamb Champion Author Texas Posts:7,995 Points:2,177,070 Joined:Jun 2006	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 7:19:56 AM Ignore MikLamb Report Abuse Good news.
studebaker1940 Champion Author Tampa Posts:2,520 Points:688,505 Joined:Mar 2011	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 7:14:33 AM Ignore studebaker1940 Report Abuse Get ready for $6. Hopefully before November so he sheeple won't re-elect Obama or any current legislatures [Edited by: studebaker1940 at 9/27/2012 9:15:29 AM EST]
RedRam2005 Champion Author San Antonio Posts:7,754 Points:1,500,165 Joined:Dec 2007	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 7:14:19 AM Ignore RedRam2005 Report Abuse Exports have gone up but prices have not come down...What is wrong with this picture? Almost everything!
garjul Champion Author Flint Posts:1,590 Points:650,965 Joined:Jul 2009	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 7:13:28 AM Ignore garjul Report Abuse Keep our oil here, then it will wean us off foreign oil dependency.
RedskinGas Champion Author Tennessee Posts:2,018 Points:1,131,035 Joined:Jun 2006	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 7:09:27 AM Ignore RedskinGas Report Abuse And of course Obama takes credit for this even though the increase is due to private investors on private land. But then they didn't build that company, the government did.
ss70 Champion Author Detroit Posts:9,677 Points:1,872,050 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 7:08:59 AM Ignore ss70 Report Abuse Good for refiners not for consumers at all.
Tsunamiron Champion Author Jacksonville Posts:1,439 Points:559,775 Joined:Mar 2011	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 7:08:35 AM Ignore Tsunamiron Report Abuse Don't expect gas prices to ever come down. In fact, some states may see $5 per gallon next summer.
cableman31 Champion Author New York Posts:8,843 Points:2,018,750 Joined:May 2004	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 7:08:21 AM Ignore cableman31 Report Abuse The SOLE PURPOSE OF THE KEYSTONE PIPELLINE IS TO GET ALBERTA OIL TO AN EAST COAST DEEP WASTER SEA PORT FOR EXPORT. To suck in the useless politicians they will divert a VERY SMALL PERCENTAGE of oil to the TEXAS refineries.
40mpgsaturn Champion Author Wisconsin Posts:2,500 Points:522,380 Joined:Jun 2011	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 7:07:39 AM Ignore 40mpgsaturn Report Abuse Gas prices will still not go down!!
BeatOPEC All-Star Author Indianapolis Posts:857 Points:197,030 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 7:05:03 AM Ignore BeatOPEC Report Abuse Lets start keeping our oil here. Don't import from the Middle East.
PhilMils Champion Author Virginia Posts:6,264 Points:1,186,390 Joined:Dec 2008	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 7:04:21 AM Ignore PhilMils Report Abuse ... and more gets exported. Reroute the planned Keystone XL pipeline to the refineries in the NE US. They must rely on the more expensive Brent crude because it is too expensive to truck in the oil produced in North America. The difference is about 45 cent per gallon.
pulpwood Champion Author Mississippi Posts:7,379 Points:1,860,455 Joined:Sep 2006	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 7:04:04 AM Ignore pulpwood Report Abuse America is the #1 Exporter of refined fuel in the world.
suicyco16 All-Star Author Phoenix Posts:577 Points:289,395 Joined:Jun 2012	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 7:03:06 AM Ignore suicyco16 Report Abuse good
RichardoB Champion Author Fayetteville Posts:8,012 Points:2,005,135 Joined:Jun 2007	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 7:00:48 AM Ignore RichardoB Report Abuse "Bloobberg" I like that.
zwsn01 All-Star Author Alabama Posts:691 Points:441,900 Joined:Jan 2012	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 7:00:36 AM Ignore zwsn01 Report Abuse Even if you drill more, we still have a bottleneck at the refiner level.
ddkk All-Star Author Illinois Posts:533 Points:1,290,575 Joined:Mar 2005	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 6:59:45 AM Ignore ddkk Report Abuse If the U.S. is addicted to oil, . . . then just how does it go 'Cold turkey' ?
cssco Champion Author Virginia Posts:7,337 Points:1,753,480 Joined:Feb 2006	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 6:59:21 AM Ignore cssco Report Abuse What is with the Bloobberg stuff at first word in this article? Fruedian slip?
58salty Champion Author Jacksonville Posts:6,645 Points:631,840 Joined:Aug 2011	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 6:59:16 AM Ignore 58salty Report Abuse Pump prices are still too high
nerde Champion Author Florida Posts:6,430 Points:1,316,645 Joined:Jul 2009	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 6:59:10 AM Ignore nerde Report Abuse It's Obama's fault!
bell05 Champion Author Atlanta Posts:9,265 Points:1,878,560 Joined:Jun 2005	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 6:58:40 AM Ignore bell05 Report Abuse Just don't think we should be Fracking.
SSchmidty Champion Author Illinois Posts:9,358 Points:1,779,155 Joined:Mar 2008	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 6:58:37 AM Ignore SSchmidty Report Abuse Sooooo, we're talking pig-oil and their lackeys hedge fund traders who's greater interest is for more $$ not cheaper, safer use og gas!
gilfarm Champion Author Alabama Posts:6,806 Points:1,950,790 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 6:57:06 AM Ignore gilfarm Report Abuse And we still have high prices!
bsmerl Champion Author Florida Posts:1,088 Points:382,885 Joined:Nov 2004	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 6:56:40 AM Ignore bsmerl Report Abuse stop screaming down with Obama and drill baby drill.... We need to focus on mitt's friends...wall street and big oil!!
investmentdr Champion Author Cleveland Posts:4,039 Points:1,457,000 Joined:Sep 2008	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 6:56:25 AM Ignore investmentdr Report Abuse oil independence is a misnomer
k2kipp Champion Author Minnesota Posts:3,171 Points:1,129,035 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 6:54:55 AM Ignore k2kipp Report Abuse Dont know who to believe anymore.
SaturnSC Champion Author Columbus Posts:1,051 Points:834,350 Joined:Nov 2008	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 6:54:55 AM Ignore SaturnSC Report Abuse Wow
RochBear Champion Author Minnesota Posts:10,472 Points:1,743,665 Joined:May 2006	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 6:54:48 AM Ignore RochBear Report Abuse We still need to get off our addiction to oil. We will not be truely "energy independant" until we make more use of wind/solar, since the Sun is the source of more energy than we could ever dream of using.
mreiff Champion Author Louisville Posts:5,362 Points:1,305,640 Joined:May 2009	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 6:54:16 AM Ignore mreiff Report Abuse So why are prices still so high then?
cheli2010 All-Star Author Twin Cities Posts:635 Points:288,440 Joined:Mar 2010	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 6:54:08 AM Ignore cheli2010 Report Abuse so now we compete with the greed in our country in stead of others...
FocusGuy Champion Author Seattle Posts:7,067 Points:1,414,705 Joined:Apr 2009	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 6:52:52 AM Ignore FocusGuy Report Abuse i really don't care anymore
exd121 Champion Author Ottawa Posts:1,832 Points:467,425 Joined:Sep 2010	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 6:52:31 AM Ignore exd121 Report Abuse and greed still raise gas prices
bsmerl Champion Author Florida Posts:1,088 Points:382,885 Joined:Nov 2004	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 6:52:19 AM Ignore bsmerl Report Abuse Republicans always find a way to blame Obama!!! He, the Democrat did it and prices are still high...i think all you Republicans need to find a NEW tree to bark up!!
Gman2011MI Champion Author Michigan Posts:2,003 Points:418,445 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 6:51:30 AM Ignore Gman2011MI Report Abuse because we have all these gas guzzlers............
RockCity Champion Author Denver Posts:7,921 Points:1,429,810 Joined:Mar 2009	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 6:51:26 AM Ignore RockCity Report Abuse Methinks it quite obvious if mittens gets elected/handed the job by the supreme court, then big oil will find their freedoms returned so they can go back to exporting more jobs and oil. You don't have to be a brain surgeon to figure this stuff out, perhaps.
Rick01 Champion Author Utah Posts:9,028 Points:2,364,525 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 6:51:14 AM Ignore Rick01 Report Abuse Good, now we need to tackle Wall Street and the pump prices.
Palantas All-Star Author Indianapolis Posts:803 Points:415,345 Joined:Sep 2011	Message Posted: Sep 27, 2012 6:49:49 AM Ignore Palantas Report Abuse Yay for us.