U.S. Approaches Oil Independence

Roughnecks wrestle pipe on a True Company oil drilling rig outside Watford, North Dakota, October 20, 2012. Thousands of people have flooded into North Dakota to work in state's oil drilling boom. Reuters

U.S. May Be Inching Toward Oil Independence -- USA Today

U.S. oil imports are down 17% since 2010, helping narrow the trade deficit.

U.S. oil imports fell sharply again in 2013 while petroleum exports rose, leading some analysts to proclaim that a new era of energy independence is just a few years away.

Experts largely credit new drilling techniques that have unearthed vast troves of previously inaccessible oil embedded in shale deposits in states such as North Dakota and Texas.

"We're at the beginning of a long upswing," says Citigroup analyst Eric Lee.

Crude oil imports declined 9% last year to 2.8 billion barrels and are down 17% since 2010, according to the Census Bureau.

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My Comment: Oil and gas fracking technologies have clearly changed the dynamics of the energy industry that has impacted the power of OPEC and some of it's member states .... and for the good. So much for peak oil theorists.

Update: Here is a good post on how much oil we are talking about in just one U.S. shale deposit. Hint .... the estimated recovery for the Spraberry/Wolfcamp is 50 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE), which is only beaten by the Ghawar oil field in Saudi Arabia. (Hat Tip: Prairie Pundit)