Environment and Energy
December 20, 2019
SMU Energy Analysis for December
Written by Peter Wright
Crude oil prices broke out to the upside in December, but the rig count continues to decline.
U.S. exports of crude oil and petroleum products, including gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, naphtha, and many others, exceeded imports in September by 89,000 barrels a day, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Nov. 28. Thus, the U.S. became a “net exporter” of crude oil and petroleum products for the first time on a monthly basis in the EIA’s data going back to 1973. If another oil embargo came along, the U.S. would just shrug it off. When the price of oil rose due to this embargo, U.S. drillers would ramp up production, and within months the world would be awash in U.S. oil. In other words, the U.S. cannot be blackmailed anymore over oil, as in the past.
