[quote=“MiG”]
All the sources I’ve found say that the USA is already a net exporter of refined products (diesel, gasoline, etc). Not crude oil. The USA is still importing more than half of its crude.
Do you have a source for your claim?[/quote]
By BEN LEFEBVRE
HOUSTON—Royal Dutch Shell RDSB.LN +0.37% PLC said late Thursday it has applied for a permit from the U.S. Commerce Department to export crude oil in a sign of how a boom in U.S. oil production from shale rock is reshaping the country’s role in the energy marketplace.
Shell was seeking the permit to ship U.S. crude to Canada, Shell spokeswoman Kayla Macke said. “Crude trades on a global scale, and imports and exports will follow supply and demand,” she said.
The U.S. currently exports less than one half of 1% of the amount of crude it imports, according to the Energy Information Administration, with all of the crude going to Canada.
The move underscores how the revolution in hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” technology that has coaxed large volumes of oil from shale rock has generated an unprecedented boom. The EIA says the boom will bring U.S. production next year to its highest level in nearly two decades.
Oil production in the U.S. totaled 194 million barrels of crude oil in July, the most in 14 years, according to the latest data from the EIA. Drillers in the Eagle Ford shale area of south Texas—where Shell has significant operations—and the Bakken shale region in North Dakota are producing more oil than pipelines are currently able to carry to market.
This week, the glut of oil production in the center of the country pushed the price for West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark crude contract, to its lowest level in a year relative to the international benchmark, Brent crude. West Texas Intermediate crude traded Friday at $91.81, down 0.3% from Thursday. Brent traded at $113.78, down 0.8%.
If the mostly light, sweet oil landlocked in the U.S. reaches foreign markets, its price gap with Brent could significantly narrow, said Mike Kelly, senior analyst at Global Hunter Securities. That is because the potential number of buyers of U.S. crude would expand dramatically.
A decades-old law bars export of crude oil produced in the U.S., although special permits can be given in some cases, including shipping oil to Canada. The U.S. exports about 41,000 barrels a day of oil already, according to the EIA.
BP BP.LN +0.44% PLC, which already has a license to export U.S. crude oil, sends it to Canada for refining, said a person familiar with the company’s operations.
The U.S. will become a net oil exporter but probably not until the end of the decade, said Pavel Molchanov, a Raymond James analyst. Companies now seeking an export license are most likely working to build the logistical networks needed for the future, Mr. Molchanov said.
From the Wall Street Journal . Tried just a link, but you need a subscription to open. ** Edit (not Washington Post)**
