3 ms·

It’s rapidly becoming in the interests of US fossil fuel companies to let the oil price spike so they can reap massive profits. The status quo is massively chan

It’s rapidly becoming in the interests of US fossil fuel companies to let the oil price spike so they can reap massive profits. The status quo is massively changing due to fracking. EDIT: Look at this graph of US net imports of oil (etc). The bottom of the graph is zero. We are perhaps months away from being a net exporter. There are caveats, like the fact that the new oil (light) the US produces is not the oil (ie Heavy) that US refineries are optimized for, but this is temporary. Refineries can and will be retooled. Saudi Arabia cannot take the position of the US as primarily a customer (vs competitor) of oil for granted. https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=pet&s=mttntus2&f=m https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=pet&s=m...

mtgx 7y ago
Also they probably figured out (finally) that the future of cars is electric vehicles, so they have a relatively short time to maximize profits. It's just that them maximizing profits for oil will also lead to an accelerated switch to EVs.
sword_smith 7y ago
That's an amazing graph. The other side of the same story is the US production of oil: https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=WCRFPUS2&f=W https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=W...
- dmurray 7y ago
  It's up about 40% since 1985? That seems really low. Population is up 33% since then.
  - sword_smith 7y ago
    Yes. US oil production fell from around 1971 until the fracking boom took off in 2008. Remember when everybody talked about Peak Oil? That's where it came from. https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=37416 https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=37416
sambroner 7y ago
Check this additional article out... really shows the growth in exports and its global impact. https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=35352 https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=35352
- adventured 7y ago
  That's a poorly representative chart of the current situation. That data is from 2017, showing that exports hit 1.1 million barrels per day. Here is what it looks like now (hit 3.1 million barrles per day in June): https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MCREXUS2&f=M https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=M... And this: Sept 12: "Booming shale production helped the United States briefly overtake Saudi Arabia and Russia to become the world's top oil exporter for the first time earlier this year. US exports of crude topped 3 million barrels per day in June, according to the International Energy Agency, pushing its total oil exports to nearly 9 million barrels per day." https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/12/investing/us-oil-exports-saudi-arabia/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/12/investing/us-oil-exports-saud...

mtgx 7y ago

Also they probably figured out (finally) that the future of cars is electric vehicles, so they have a relatively short time to maximize profits. It's just that them maximizing profits for oil will also lead to an accelerated switch to EVs.

sword_smith 7y ago

That's an amazing graph. The other side of the same story is the US production of oil: https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=WCRFPUS2&f=W https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=W...

dmurray 7y ago
It's up about 40% since 1985? That seems really low. Population is up 33% since then.
- sword_smith 7y ago
  Yes. US oil production fell from around 1971 until the fracking boom took off in 2008. Remember when everybody talked about Peak Oil? That's where it came from. https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=37416 https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=37416

sambroner 7y ago

Check this additional article out... really shows the growth in exports and its global impact. https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=35352 https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=35352

adventured 7y ago
That's a poorly representative chart of the current situation. That data is from 2017, showing that exports hit 1.1 million barrels per day. Here is what it looks like now (hit 3.1 million barrles per day in June): https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MCREXUS2&f=M https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=M... And this: Sept 12: "Booming shale production helped the United States briefly overtake Saudi Arabia and Russia to become the world's top oil exporter for the first time earlier this year. US exports of crude topped 3 million barrels per day in June, according to the International Energy Agency, pushing its total oil exports to nearly 9 million barrels per day." https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/12/investing/us-oil-exports-saudi-arabia/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/12/investing/us-oil-exports-saud...