Oil boom gives U.S. new options

Things are going so well, the United States has surpassed Saudi Arabia to become the world's largest oil producer. The milestone was reached in mid-October, when total crude-oil and biofuel production hit 8 million barrels a day -- an increase of 2 million barrels a day from 2011.

The industry is predicting that by the end of 2014, the U.S. oil industry will be producing 13 million barrels a day -- an amazing feat.



It's big news. Ironically, few major metropolitan newspapers have printed the story. And if they did, it wasn't in a prominent space.

Few liberals want to promote the growth of the oil, gas and biofuel industry, except in their retirement stock portfolios. That's why the Obama administration keeps tightening environmental regulations to make it harder to extract oil on land and at sea while pushing up mileage standards on vehicles and forcing consumers to purchase overpriced hybrids.

Yes, it's important to save the earth, and the United States is doing it's fair share to promote clean energy; it's also important to save our economy and end our dependence on foreign oil.

Obama's reluctance to sanction the Keystone XL Pipeline project, which would add thousands of U.S. jobs and make it easier for producers to transport their product from Canada to Gulf Coast refineries, is hard to comprehend at this point. But even with the president's hardened position, American know-how has trumped the administration's war against biofuel commerce.

The shale revolution has given U.S. engineers the chance to develop new technology that can extract oil and gas from the most remote -- and previously unreachable -- mineral deposits. "Hydraulic fracking" has revived the entrepreneurial spirit of the California Gold Rush in North Dakota, South Dakota and parts of Montana and Texas. Cities and towns are springing up along the Bakken Formation, a 200,000-square-mile range of rich shale deposits. Jobs are being created by the thousands.

The boom has allowed America to reduce its daily dependence on Middle East and Russian oil imports by more nearly 2 million barrels a day. That was unheard of just two years ago. The result is cheaper gasoline at the pump and an economic uptick for consumers who have more disposable income.

Equally important, though, is the change it is producing on the political front. By decreasing our dependence on foreign oil, America no longer has to be held hostage by the wild swings in crude oil prices that are brought on by government instability in the Middle East. We're no longer being held hostage by the sheiks and radical regimes of the Taliban.

The best thing is America should never be drawn into another foreign war over the issue of protecting its crude-oil allocation. Although we remain the world's biggest oil user, we are no longer the world's biggest importer. That distinction is now held by China.

In the years ahead, America will continue to reduce its imports while building reliance on its own production. The economy will prosper in many ways.

The only downside is how we create a new foreign policy with Middle East allies, particularly the Saudis, who have kept open the oil spigot to our growing demands through the years. They can't be ignored, but America's oil independence is certainly a reason to formulate a different relationship.

-- By The Sun of Lowell editorial board, Digital First Media



Source