Are We One Step Closer to Energy Independence?

Photo by Joe Raedle/Newsmakers

An oil worker at the Big Hill oil reserve in Beaumont, Texas.

A milestone has been crossed in the production of energy in the country, according to a report today in the Wall Street Journal. Because of increased oil and gas drilling and production, the U.S. could end up exporting more fuels this year than it imported.

Using data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the Journal found that:

“The U.S. was a net exporter of petroleum products in six of the first nine months this year, and the trend accelerated in the third quarter, with September data released Tuesday showing net exports of 919,000 barrels per day, more than any month this year. That indicates to observers that this year will be the U.S.’s first as a net exporter since 1949, when the U.S. economy was ramping up rapidly after World War II.”

Texas’ energy industry is a significant part of this growth. Texas is the leading energy producer in the nation, and home to the Eagle Ford Shale, where an estimated 20.81 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 3.3 billion barrels of oil are currently being explored. While the first gas wells were drilled there in 2008, the oil boom is more recent. Eight million barrels of oil have been produced from the Eagle Ford this year through August, according to the Railroad Commission of Texas, which oversees drilling in the state. That’s more than double than all of last year, when most oil exploration in the shale began.

As StateImpact Texas reported yesterday, oil production in the state is now more than 30 million barrels a month, or about 1 million barrels of oil a day. As the new government numbers show, that’s more than the whole country exports in a given day. And the state is largest onshore producer of oil, biggest refiner of crude, and one-third of the nation’s proven reserves of natural gas, according to the Energy Information Administration.

The report also notes that Texas could play an even bigger part in the future:

“The U.S. could expand its export trade further next year. Motiva Enterprises LLC, a joint venture between Shell and Saudi Arabian Oil Co., is expected to finish work next year on a refinery expansion in Port Arthur, Texas, which would double the facility’s capacity and make it the largest in the U.S. Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP and TransMontaigne Partners LP plan to build a $400 million terminal on the Houston ship channel.”