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This news is based on one weekly oil inventory report, which fluctuates greatly because of the timing of oil tankers coming in and out of ports. Each VLCC can

This news is based on one weekly oil inventory report, which fluctuates greatly because of the timing of oil tankers coming in and out of ports. Each VLCC can hold 2 million barrels of oil, so a timing mismatch can make the report swing largely. I would bet next week the US is a net importer again. That said, the US oil production grew incredibly this year. It will be a net exporter again. In addition, the US has large refining capacity, so it gets to export oil derived products which were counted towards the net (The actual crude oil exports were still only half its imports).

cronix 8y ago
And OPEC immediately counter-punched, lowering their output MORE than anticipated. So really, it doesn't mean a damn thing. We will be paying the same, or more, at the pumps. Trump had been asking them to keep it the same so prices would lower with the new US production, but they voted against that, with Saudi Arabia making the biggest cuts. Russia (not in OPEC) cut back as well. So, it seems it's a net loss for the consumers, but great for oil companies. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/07/business/energy-environment/opec-russia-oil-prices-production.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/07/business/energy-environme...
- wernercd 8y ago
  if the output is the same but America's cut is greater... doesn't that mean it's a net positive for the US? More US gas = more US profit? Seems like a win to me...
  - simonh 8y ago
    More profit for US oil companies, but as a massive consumer of oil and oil derived products it means higher prices than necessary across many large sectors of the economy.
  - paulddraper 8y ago
    Yes: good for American oil producers; indifferent for American oil consumers.
    - wallacoloo 8y ago
      Even for American oil consumers, doesn’t fewer imports imply an expectation of greater stability going forward, since the price is more dependent upon just this country’s happenings, and less dependent on the happenings inside other countries? Or can it be argued either way, e.g. that if the production was spread over more countries the prices would be less dependent on any one country in isolation?
- jefftk 8y ago
  It's good news environmentally. The more expensive gas is the less we burn.
  - dewiz 8y ago
    Environmentally we should stop using gas, import and export. It’s been said for 40+ years and instead we’re celebrating these news
- rypskar 8y ago
  >it seems it's a net loss for the consumers How is it a net loss for consumers that Americans continue to get subsidised gas? If you had to pay even less it would have been a huge loss for the environment. It is about time that you start to pay the real price for gas including the environmental cost for the emissions
- iambateman 8y ago
  In practice our prices are down a good bit (20%?). I paid $1.89 today in beautiful Columbia South Carolina.
  - Waterluvian 8y ago
    Yeah 0.94 CAD today. I forgot it can go below a dollar.
    - spullara 8y ago
      The US people are talking about per gallon and you are likely quoting per liter.
      - Waterluvian 8y ago
        I am. I'm not trying to make a comparison to parent. Just that I've not seen it below a dollar in a long time.
  - Zhenya 8y ago
    Still damn near 4 dollars here in California.
    - shpx 8y ago
      https://www.gasbuddy.com/GasPriceMap https://www.gasbuddy.com/GasPriceMap
    - jjeaff 8y ago
      In order to make gas legal to sell in CA, it requires a special formulation and additives. Refineries have to be specially configured to produce it, so CA will almost always be more due to the smaller amount of refinery capacity dedicated to producing it. And that isn't even taking into account the various CA taxes and fees on gas that add up to nearly 50 cents a gallon.
      - masonic 8y ago
- nicholas73 8y ago
  This is a misconception. Over time, OPEC actually LOWERS prices, not raises them. This is because oil has lag time from investment to production, so it has natural boom/bust cycles. If there was no moderator akin to a central bank, producers would eventually be knocked out of the market and set the stage for prices to rise to marginal benefit. Producers need reduced price volatility to make decisions, and also some producers have higher costs and cannot survive in low price environments. We saw something like this is 2008 where oil rose to $140/barrel and people still paid that price. This can happen again once shale growth levels, and years of underinvestment in expensive oils like deepwater and oil sands bite. Sorry, but once again Trump doesn't know what he is talking about. He majorly F'd the OPEC countries and allies by telling them he'd sanction Iran and then pulling back on it after they invested in production. You cannot simply turn on and off the taps for oil, and he doesn't understand that. OPEC had no choice but to plan a cut or else the market would have driven more into bankruptcy. Edit: Also a fun fact - US shale oil primarily produces gasoline, so even if OPEC cuts we still have adequate supply of gasoline. But actually prices for gas aren't down much because of added taxes. The Saudi oil minister actually commented on that this week, that it is unfair that they helped consumers by increasing production (as Trump requested) but when crude prices fall governments fill the gap with taxes.
slededit 8y ago
I get that, but given its the first time this has happened in 75 years its still quite a dramatic milestone, even if its unlikely to reoccur next week.
peter303 8y ago
The trend has been relentlessly toward petroleum self sufficiency 2005. Here is the five week data table showing such: https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=35032 https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=35032 The detail is somewhat overwhelming, but thenet import number is shown near the bottom.

cronix 8y ago

And OPEC immediately counter-punched, lowering their output MORE than anticipated. So really, it doesn't mean a damn thing. We will be paying the same, or more, at the pumps. Trump had been asking them to keep it the same so prices would lower with the new US production, but they voted against that, with Saudi Arabia making the biggest cuts. Russia (not in OPEC) cut back as well. So, it seems it's a net loss for the consumers, but great for oil companies. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/07/business/energy-environment/opec-russia-oil-prices-production.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/07/business/energy-environme...

wernercd 8y ago
if the output is the same but America's cut is greater... doesn't that mean it's a net positive for the US? More US gas = more US profit? Seems like a win to me...
- simonh 8y ago
  More profit for US oil companies, but as a massive consumer of oil and oil derived products it means higher prices than necessary across many large sectors of the economy.
- paulddraper 8y ago
  Yes: good for American oil producers; indifferent for American oil consumers.
  - wallacoloo 8y ago
    Even for American oil consumers, doesn’t fewer imports imply an expectation of greater stability going forward, since the price is more dependent upon just this country’s happenings, and less dependent on the happenings inside other countries? Or can it be argued either way, e.g. that if the production was spread over more countries the prices would be less dependent on any one country in isolation?
jefftk 8y ago
It's good news environmentally. The more expensive gas is the less we burn.
- dewiz 8y ago
  Environmentally we should stop using gas, import and export. It’s been said for 40+ years and instead we’re celebrating these news
rypskar 8y ago
>it seems it's a net loss for the consumers How is it a net loss for consumers that Americans continue to get subsidised gas? If you had to pay even less it would have been a huge loss for the environment. It is about time that you start to pay the real price for gas including the environmental cost for the emissions
iambateman 8y ago
In practice our prices are down a good bit (20%?). I paid $1.89 today in beautiful Columbia South Carolina.
- Waterluvian 8y ago
  Yeah 0.94 CAD today. I forgot it can go below a dollar.
  - spullara 8y ago
    The US people are talking about per gallon and you are likely quoting per liter.
    - Waterluvian 8y ago
      I am. I'm not trying to make a comparison to parent. Just that I've not seen it below a dollar in a long time.
- Zhenya 8y ago
  Still damn near 4 dollars here in California.
  - shpx 8y ago
    https://www.gasbuddy.com/GasPriceMap https://www.gasbuddy.com/GasPriceMap
  - jjeaff 8y ago
    In order to make gas legal to sell in CA, it requires a special formulation and additives. Refineries have to be specially configured to produce it, so CA will almost always be more due to the smaller amount of refinery capacity dedicated to producing it. And that isn't even taking into account the various CA taxes and fees on gas that add up to nearly 50 cents a gallon.
    - masonic 8y ago
nicholas73 8y ago
This is a misconception. Over time, OPEC actually LOWERS prices, not raises them. This is because oil has lag time from investment to production, so it has natural boom/bust cycles. If there was no moderator akin to a central bank, producers would eventually be knocked out of the market and set the stage for prices to rise to marginal benefit. Producers need reduced price volatility to make decisions, and also some producers have higher costs and cannot survive in low price environments. We saw something like this is 2008 where oil rose to $140/barrel and people still paid that price. This can happen again once shale growth levels, and years of underinvestment in expensive oils like deepwater and oil sands bite. Sorry, but once again Trump doesn't know what he is talking about. He majorly F'd the OPEC countries and allies by telling them he'd sanction Iran and then pulling back on it after they invested in production. You cannot simply turn on and off the taps for oil, and he doesn't understand that. OPEC had no choice but to plan a cut or else the market would have driven more into bankruptcy. Edit: Also a fun fact - US shale oil primarily produces gasoline, so even if OPEC cuts we still have adequate supply of gasoline. But actually prices for gas aren't down much because of added taxes. The Saudi oil minister actually commented on that this week, that it is unfair that they helped consumers by increasing production (as Trump requested) but when crude prices fall governments fill the gap with taxes.

slededit 8y ago

I get that, but given its the first time this has happened in 75 years its still quite a dramatic milestone, even if its unlikely to reoccur next week.

peter303 8y ago

The trend has been relentlessly toward petroleum self sufficiency 2005. Here is the five week data table showing such: https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=35032 https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=35032 The detail is somewhat overwhelming, but thenet import number is shown near the bottom.