U.S. Oil Production hits all-time high

The U.S. is the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas. By far.

Really. That is not a typo.

Americans misunderstand our energy use because the reality is in conflict with the politics. 

First, the facts. The U.S. is producing more energy now than ever before. Period. 

The big swing is in oil (in light blue) and natural gas and gas liquids (in maroon and pink.) Renewables are growing along with the total energy supply. 

The U.S. produces more oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids than any other country, including Saudi Arabia.

U.S. Energy Information Administration

U.S. production of oil exceeds production in pre-Covid 2019. The link for this chart includes a table showing crude oil production for every month going back to 1920. See for yourself. Oil production is more than twice what it was during the term of office of oil-men George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. Production is greater than it was in the Trump presidency.

U.S. Energy Information Administration

We don't hear much about this. Many voters think the opposite is the case because consumers focus on gasoline prices, not crude oil production. I bought gasoline in New Hampshire for less than $3.50/gallon. So cheap! Gasoline prices at the pump are highly influenced by refinery capacity and location. Most U.S. oil companies are not well positioned to make gasoline from the "light, sweet" low-sulfur crude oil that comes out of U.S. oil shale. Refineries engineered facilities to process the thicker, higher-sulfur oil we were importing 15 years ago. Refineries are expensive to convert to a different input mix, and new ones are hard to site. Refiners looking at electric vehicles are reluctant to over-invest in a refining capacity that may be a mis-match to future demand. The U.S. is exporting some of our light sweet crude and importing sour crude, and making up the cost with increased margins on refined product. The status quo is profitable for the oil companies, so they aren't rushing to change. 

The Biden administration has allowed new leases and has expanded access to oil fields in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico. But Biden doesn't crow about it. It is an awkward victory for Democrats. As the PBS headline notes, it is contrary to the climate agenda of Democrats. 

PBS News Hour

Environmentalists complain, but they, too, are reserved. Biden is better on the fossil fuel issue than any Republican who would replace him, and he actively supports green energy. Besides, U.S. oil is replacing Russian oil, and better us than them.  Climate activists understand that high gasoline prices discourage their use and encourage conservation but also that high gasoline prices are unpopular, including with most environmentalist voters. They aren't making trouble for Biden.

Conservative media and Republican officeholders are quiet, too. Their well-established talking point is that Biden hates fossil fuels, that Biden is all about pie-in-the-sky green energy instead of good, old-fashioned reliable oil. The facts get in the way of that narrative. If voters in Texas understood that oil was gushing out of the West Texas' Permian Basin, Texas might turn blue, and Biden might seem reasonable. Better to blame high gasoline prices on Biden's war on oil than to point to refinery margins from PAC donors. Republican officeholders and conservative media stick with a simple narrative that Biden hates oil, oil state voters, and that his policies have destroyed the industry. It is wrong, but it is easy to sell.

There is a war on in the Middle East and sanctions against Russian oil, and yet the gasoline station down the street is open for business with gasoline to sell. No ration card. No lines. No hassle. There is a reason for that.

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