Let me reveal my age and remember that I watched President Richard M. Nixon call for “energy independence” many years ago. His successors have more or less said the same thing.
It appears that President Nixon’s call may soon be reality. In fact, it looks like we may be “drowning the world” with oil, according to Nick Cunningham:
The U.S. is still expected to account of the bulk of new drilling and the vast majority of new production, with much of that coming from shale.Already, the U.S. is the world’s largest producer of both oil and natural gas.And the pace has accelerated in recent years.In 2018, U.S. oil and gas production increased by 16 and 12 percent, respectively.According to the EIA, the U.S. surpassed Russia in terms of gas production in 2011, claiming the top spot, and it surpassed Saudi Arabia in oil production last year.
President Nixon must be cheering up in heaven!
“Energy independence” will have several consequences:
First, we won’t have to defend oil fields around the world. Maybe the Europeans will finally appreciate what all of those U.S. aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf have been doing over the years. The “oil sea lanes” may look a lot different when bad guys don’t have U.S. aircraft carriers to deal with.
Second, and back home, it will create a boom in jobs in the oil industry.
It’s good news all around, especially for those who remember sitting in gas lines in 1979–80.
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