With the price of gas at the pump rather high this week there's a bit more interest in what's happening in our petroleum markets. Those who are interested can find some key statistics on the major players and U.S. oil imports here (play around on the site).
One of the more interesting developments is that - contrary to what many might believe - U.S. oil production is actually growing (and has been since 2009) while U.S. oil imports are actually going down. Part of the reason for declining imports into the U.S. is because of increased production from shale fields in North Dakota and Texas. Production from these two areas has us on pace in 2012 to cut U.S. oil imports to the lowest levels in two decades.
So what's driving gasoline price hikes? A decline in exports from Iran (sanctions), the cost of shale extraction (it's not cheap), and a declining dollar (which causes remaining import prices to climb). There's more (Syrian-Turkey tensions), but I'll leave it at that for now.
- Mark
One of the more interesting developments is that - contrary to what many might believe - U.S. oil production is actually growing (and has been since 2009) while U.S. oil imports are actually going down. Part of the reason for declining imports into the U.S. is because of increased production from shale fields in North Dakota and Texas. Production from these two areas has us on pace in 2012 to cut U.S. oil imports to the lowest levels in two decades.
So what's driving gasoline price hikes? A decline in exports from Iran (sanctions), the cost of shale extraction (it's not cheap), and a declining dollar (which causes remaining import prices to climb). There's more (Syrian-Turkey tensions), but I'll leave it at that for now.
- Mark
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