U.S. Energy Revolution Rolls On

Mark Green
Posted July 10, 2019

There’s much in the latest government report that signals U.S. global energy leadership is strengthening, mostly thanks to continued robust domestic production.

From record volumes of natural gas and oil to growing exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), America’s opportunities to bring greater stability to energy markets, assist allies, lead the world in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and benefit consumers here at home have increased.

Highlights from the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) new Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO):

• At a time when EIA expects global oil demand to grow, the agency also believes the U.S. will be the main driver of supply growth – supported by forecast average production of 12.4 million barrels per day (b/d) this year and 13.3 million b/d in 2020.

• The U.S. will be a net exporter of crude oil and petroleum products by the fourth quarter of 2019 and into 2020.

• U.S. LNG exports will grow by more than 60% this year – helped by new export projecting coming online and by domestic natural gas production that EIA says will average 91.3 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), an increase of 8 Bcf/d over the previous record set in 2018.
• U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide emissions will decrease 2.2% this year and another 0.7% in 2020. A leading factor in the CO2 emissions decline is that the share of U.S. utility-scale electricity generation from natural gas-fueled power plants will rise from 35% in 2018 to 38% in 2019.

From the above we see the U.S. as a reliable, stable global energy supplier, declining U.S. net oil/liquids imports, more opportunities through LNG exports to help friends and allies abroad and U.S. leadership in reducing CO2 emissions – due to increasing use of clean natural gas. All of these are significant, positive trends made possible by abundant U.S. natural gas and oil – themselves made possible by advanced industry technologies and innovations.

For U.S. consumers, there’s good news in this STEO chart:

Which fits with a chart we published recently, showing changes in household expenditures across major needs:

Basically, U.S. consumers have seen a decline in what they spent on energy – even as their expenditures for other priorities increased.

Again, thanks to U.S. energy, our energy security and global posture have been strengthened and American consumers have benefited. If this were a report card for the U.S. energy revolution, we’d see A’s across the board.