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Economy
U.S. Seen as Biggest Oil Producer After Overtaking Saudi Arabia
2014-07-05
[BLOOMBERG] The U.S. will remain the world's biggest oil producer this year after overtaking Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
 and Russia as extraction of energy from shale rock spurs the nation's economic recovery, Bank of America Corp. said.

U.S. production of crude oil, along with liquids separated from natural gas, surpassed all other countries this year with daily output exceeding 11 million barrels in the first quarter, the bank said in a report today. The country became the world's largest natural gas producer in 2010. The International Energy Agency said in June that the U.S. was the biggest producer of oil and natural gas liquids.

"The U.S. increase in supply is a very meaningful chunk of oil," Francisco Blanch, the bank's head of commodities research, said by phone from New York. "The shale boom is playing a key role in the U.S. recovery. If the U.S. didn't have this energy supply, prices at the pump would be completely unaffordable."

Oil extraction is soaring at shale formations in Texas and North Dakota as companies split rocks using high-pressure liquid, a process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The surge in supply combined with restrictions on exporting crude is curbing the price of West Texas Intermediate, America's oil benchmark. The U.S., the world's largest oil consumer, still imported an average of 7.5 million barrels a day of crude in April, according to the Department of Energy's statistical arm.
Posted by:Fred

#10  North Dakota is currently "flaring" aka "wasting" 30% of the natural gas produced from its oil wells due to lack of pipeline capacity and gas-processing infrastructure. Per WSJ: North Dakota wells burned off 10.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas in April, according to state data. That amounts to nearly $50 million worth of natural gas at spot-market prices. ND Industrial Commission guidelines, which were proposed by the industry earlier this year, set targets for flaring at 23% of all gas produced by January 2015
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418    2014-07-05 20:14  

#9  ..and their handlers in the media and celebrities to manipulate the public mood.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2014-07-05 12:35  

#8  Also don't forget the Soddies still have plenty of money to buy US politicians.
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2014-07-05 12:11  

#7  Trust me all of the rules the EPA and OSHA are throwing at the transport of oil and oil based products has nothing to do with safety and everything to do with limiting their ability to reach the market.

The federal government and most Democratic run (ruined?)states make considerable revenue off gasoline and oil sales taxes and excise taxes. To lower the price of gasoline would gut many state revenue streams.

It is all about the taxes and the need to feed the welfare state beast.
Posted by: Bill Clinton   2014-07-05 11:10  

#6  Extraction is one thing; getting it to market is another. In addition to the non-Keystone pipeline, the railroads are getting another beating or two; the Bakken crude has been identified as more flammable than non-fracked crude. As a result, in addition to mandating the DOT 112/114 standard tank cars ( of which there aren't enough and the backlog for manufacturing runs out a couple years) now there is a proposed rule that will require the oil unit trains to run at only 30 mph and on designated (less populated) routes. This will only further clog an already jugged up system. And will not help prices.
Posted by: USN, Ret.   2014-07-05 10:18  

#5  This should have happened years ago as we have paid billions to Saudis to spread their hate around the world.
Posted by: Thusosh Untervehr8552   2014-07-05 09:11  

#4  I am very happy that America has begun its energy independence but we could of accelerated this with a focus on coal and nuclear as well. Additionally cooperating with Canada to bring oil and natural gas South would help as well.

But remember this we send billions each month to the Middle East for oil and they hate us. Wait until we shut them off and close them out of the financial markets. They are going to treat us like Jews.
Posted by: Airandee   2014-07-05 08:10  

#3  It's not that gas is expensive, it's that the dollar has been ruthlessly debased by unending 'quantitative easings'*. Commodities stay generally relative to each other, it's the fools in control of the printing press and modern equivalent thereof that seem to generate an infinite amount of monetary units without backing.

* when the speculative game ended in 2008, a lot of institutions were stuck with vastly overpriced paper whose assets that paper reflected lost half or more of their value. After the Treasury and Fed have inflated the dollar, that paper is now on par with its face value. So while the people at the Treasury and Fed can go back and work at those institutions, the rest of us are stuck with an 'inflation' tax in the cost of those things necessary for daily living (which by the way, are not for some reason calculated in the official inflation index).
Posted by: Procopius2k   2014-07-05 07:42  

#2  The wells aren't exactly cheap.
Think local, sell global.
We can have cheaper gasoline for awhile if it gets regulated, then it will be cheaper and scarce, it being difficult to get those thieving oilmen to work for a loss.
Posted by: Shipman   2014-07-05 04:27  

#1  And gasoline is STILL over $4.00 a gallon in Californicate.
Posted by: Bill Clinton   2014-07-05 01:30  

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