The Market, Energy, And Political Page, T+ 31 -- December 7, 2018

US becomes net exporter of oil, fuels for first time in decades: The WSJ. 

I had several posts on this subject last night. Why would I add yet another story that says the same thing?

Because of the sub-headline: fracking boom briefly propels US to symbolic milestone of "energy independence."

And another opportunity to post one of my favorite YouTube clips:


What a doofus
Back to the linked article:

The shift to net exporter from importer, detailed in weekly data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, may be short lived. Still, it demonstrates that America is moving closer to achieving “energy independence” as the shale revolution makes the country one of the world’s top oil producers and reshapes global markets.

Reducing American dependency on oil imports has been an intense focus of executives and presidents from Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush, none of whom anticipated a renaissance in U.S. drilling.

Wow, mentioning "previous presidents" and Jimmy Carter, specifically, is crazy talk.What do previous presidents have to do with guys like Harold Hamm, Mark Papa, Aubrey McClendon, geologists, pad managers, roughnecks, truck drivers, surface owners, state and local governments -- those who really made this possible?

Mentioning the likes of Jimmy Carter in the lede for an article like this is crazy talk and demeans the real "heroes."

Irony: The most anti-Big Oil president in US history couldn't stop this train:

More from the linked article:

America is now the world’s top producer of oil and natural gas. This week in Vienna, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is once again weighing whether to curtail production, a decision driven in part by surging American oil output, which has topped 11 million barrels a day. 

The U.S. exported 3.2 million barrels of oil during the week that ended on Nov. 30, along with about 5.8 million barrels of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other products. Those exports exceeded combined imports of 8.8 million barrels a day in the week, making the country a net exporter, according to the EIA. This is the first time the U.S. has been a net exporter since at least 1973, federal data show.

While many analysts don’t expect the distinction to last long this year, it may occur for a sustained period next year or in 2020, according to some forecasts. Oil and natural gas production continues to grow at a breakneck pace, and dozens of companies are spending billions of dollars to build out infrastructure for exports of everything from crude and natural gas to plastics components, mostly along the Texas Gulf Coast.

Enough of this. Time to move on.