Myth of the Month: Despite recent headlines, the US is not yet energy Independent ( but we are approaching energy independence ! )

I was asked by a reader 

if I was anti-Trump,

because I never wrote here 

that the US just became 

a net exporter of oil, 

for the first time

in 75 years.

Well, I am anti-Trump,
just like I was anti-Obama,
and anti-Bush, and 
anti-every other US president
who wastes taxpayers' money,
practices deficit spending
outside of recessions,
and fights unnecessary wars
... where we lose, or the war 
never ends ( as in Afghanistan )
so no one has to admit we lost !

But ... 
the reason 
I never 

wrote that
the US was
energy
independent,
was for a 
good reason:

  It's not true !

The mainstream press

sometimes publishes 

fake news!

Sometimes 

fake good news,

not very often

while Trump 

is president, 

but it happens !

Unlike climate change,

where every prediction 

of doom from fossil fuels

is wild (wrong) speculation,

articles on fossil fuel 

use and production

are usually accurate.

But not this time !

Unfortunately, in our 

internet age, a headline

that grabs attention 

seems more important 

than an accurate headline.

The US is not 

a net exporter

of crude oil.

The US is not

energy independent. 

But the US 

is approaching 

energy independence.

And that's good news,

even though delayed 

by Obama, who opposed

drilling on government land.

But drilling 
on private land 

boomed in 
the Obama years,
and was 
later helped 
by Obama,
believe it or not,

who repealed 
the 40-year old 

crude oil 
export ban 
in 2015.

Crude oil exports 

have soared 

since then.

The Energy 

Information 

Administration, 

or EIA,

publishes 

weekly statistics 

on U.S. 

oil production, 

consumption, 

exports, 

and inventories.

Their report 

is called the 

Weekly 

Petroleum 

Status Report.

For the last week 

of November 2018:

(A)

The U.S. produced 

11.7 million 

barrels per day (BPD) 

of crude oil, 

up 2 million BPD 

from the same week 

one year ago.

(B)

The U.S. is still 

a net importer 

of crude oil, 

of about 

4.0 million BPD

for our oil refineries.

( BPD = barrels per day )

(C)

Total U.S. production 

of oil and other supply, 

that is fed into refineries, 

is 18.6 million BPD, 

while U.S. consumption 

is 20.5 million BPD. 

Here’s a summary

for the week 

ended 11/30/18:

Inputs to US Refineries:

U.S. crude oil production – 11.7 million BPD

U.S. "other supply" production 

         (NGLs, ethanol, etc.) – 6.9 million BPD

       Total US production = 18.6 million BPD

             ( Note: NGL's are natural gas liquids )

U.S. crude oil imports – 7.2 million BPD

U.S. crude oil exports – 3.2 million BPD

    Net US crude oil Imports for use 

         by US refineries = 4.0 million BPD

U.S. finished product imports – 1.6 million BPD

U.S. finished product exports – 5.8 million BPD

       Net US finished products 

     exports from US refineries =  4.2 million BPD

Total U.S. petroleum consumption = 20.5 million BPD

If you add US 

crude oil production 

to the production of

finished products

by US oil refineries,

for the week 

ending 11/30/18, 

the U.S. was 

a net EXPORTER 

of 0.2 million BPD 

of crude oil plus

finished products. 

This is the first time 

that category had

net EXPORTS 

since the EIA 

began reporting 

this information 

in 1991.

But ... let's not 

celebrate yet,

because the 

week ending 11/3018

was an unusual week -- 

the average over the 

previous four weeks 

was 2.0 million BPD 

of net IMPORTS,

not exports !

DETAILS:

(1)

PRODUCTION

(a)

(Oil ) "Products Supplied" 

is listed at 20.5 million BPD. 

That's approximately equal to

U.S. crude oil consumption 

for the week. 

That means the US 

is using about 20 million BPD

of crude oil, while producing 

less than 12 million BPD.

(b)

There's also 

other energy production

not included in the 

12  million BPD 

of crude oil production.

"Other Supply"

consists of 

natural gas

liquids (NGLs) 

and fuel ethanol. 

This category 

represents 

a significant input 

to oil refineries, 

in addition to the 

11.7 million BPD 

of crude oil 

produced in the US, 

and the net imports of

4.0 million BPD.

Other Supply is 6.9 million BPD. 

Domestic Production of crude oil 

plus Other Supply is equal to 

(11.7 + 6.9) = 18.6 million BPD.

That's still about 

2 million BPD 

less than 

the U.S. 

consumes.

(2)

Exports

during that week: 

The U.S. imported 

1.6 million BPD 

of "finished products", 

such as gasoline,

while exporting 

5.8 million BPD 

( includes some ethanol and NGLs ). 

So net U.S. exports 

of finished products 

were 4.2 million BPD. 

U.S. became a net exporter 

of finished products in 2011.

The U.S. also exports crude oil. 

We simultaneously import

and exports crude oil 

because some of our domestic

crude oil isn’t a good match 

for our domestic refineries.