Oil & Gas Industry is good for America

[dan_s]

Shale Boom narrows US-trade deficit, boosts GDP

The Shale Boom is having a big positive impact on the US’s trade balance. The EIA said on Jan 7th that US- oil production will
reach 8.5-million bpd in 2014, up from 8.15-million bpd today. The 350,000-bpd increase in US-oil output is ahead of the EIA’s forecast for the rest of the world, with OPEC supplies increasing 150,000-bpd and non-OPEC sources increasing 150,000-bpd. The EIA forecasts show US-oil output will reach 9.3-million bpd in 2015, the highest level since 1972. As such, the US-trade deficit in goods and services with the rest of the world shrank to $34.3-billion in November, - a steep drop from a trade gap of $39.3-billion in October.

The narrowing in the US-trade deficit was mostly because of a drop in the quantity and price of purchased crude oil. In all, imports of petroleum goods fell -11% in November from the prior month, to $28.5-billion. Meanwhile, US-exports of energy continued to edge higher, with shipments of gasoline and diesel fuel rising +5.5% to $13.3-billion. On an inflation-adjusted basis, the US-trade deficit in petroleum goods in November was the lowest since late 1996. In addition, the Shale revolution supports 2-million jobs.