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Originally Posted by Marine1974
I disagree, when the government moves away from energy independence and buys foreign oil, freight costs go up on all items sold . When oil prices jumped from $30 a barrel to $130 a barrel, Russia, Iran , Syria , Saudi Arabia and other bad actors financed their wars and terrorist groups . Meanwhile our government started pumping billions into the military industrial complex.
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Brent Crude petroleum is at this moment selling for $74.49 per barrel. Not $130. $30 a barrel was an aberration, and when it occurred, President Trump sent an emissary to the Saudis to plead with them to pump out less petroleum so the price would go up because the U.S. was closing down wells because the price was too low. Had you forgotten that?
Here’s what was published in Forbes (a very conservative business source on July 1, 2024:
“Establishing Consistent Terminology
“It’s important to understand that the following two statements are each true under a consistent definition of energy independence.
“If the U.S. is not energy independent under Joe Biden, then it was never energy independent under Donald Trump.
“If the U.S. was energy independent under Donald Trump, then energy independence has grown to record levels under Joe Biden.
“ Under no scenario did the U.S. become energy independent under Trump and lose it under Biden.
“ I don’t find this definition very useful, due to the globalized nature of energy markets. The U.S. imports some energy to convert it into products for export. We began importing crude oil in the U.S. before 1950, and we have imported it every year since.
“ Under this definition, the U.S. hasn’t been energy independent in at least 75 years. This definition highlights how interdependent global energy supplies are, emphasizing that this sort of energy independence is neither necessary nor economically desirable.
“ Thus, the notion, “President Trump made us energy independent”, is not true under the Zero Imports Definition. During President Trump’s term, the U.S. imported an average of 9.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and finished products. By the Zero Imports Definition, Statement 1 above holds: We weren’t energy independent under Trump or Biden.
The Energy Surplus Definition is more useful in my view. That defines energy independence as producing more energy than we consume. Based on that definition, even if we import some energy, the fact that we produce more than enough to satisfy our needs would mean the U.S. is energy independent.
“The Energy Surplus Definition is what Trump is using when he said we became energy independent while he was in office. If we consider this definition, in 2019 the U.S. had an energy surplus for the first time since at least the 1940s. This can be seen in the following graphic when the production line barely exceeds the consumption line for the first time in 2019.
“ The Energy Surplus Definition is more useful in my view. That defines energy independence as producing more energy than we consume. Based on that definition, even if we import some energy, the fact that we produce more than enough to satisfy our needs would mean the U.S. is energy independent.
“ Net U.S. energy imports hit a record high in 2005, but since then have steadily declined due to the surge of oil and gas production released by the shale boom. In 2019, net U.S. energy imports became net exports, and that is the measure by which many — including Donald Trump — declared energy independence.
“However, we didn’t lose this status under Joe Biden. To the contrary, U.S. oil and gas production continued to grow, as shown in the next graphic. In 2022 the net energy surplus reached 5.94 quadrillion BTUs (quads), which was the highest level in at least 70 years.”
Don’t imagine that Energy Independence means we don’t bring in petroleum from elsewhere. What happens is a bit like this: we have LOTS of M&Ms, but we have more brown ones than we need and not enough red and yellow ones, so we import red and yellow ones and export brown ones. What happened under both Trump and Biden (though neither should be taking the credit, as it doesn’t have much to do with them) is that the U.S. is exporting more M&Ms than it is importing.
If you want to know the truth, don’t turn to campaign ads from either side.
U.S. Energy Independence Set New Record In 2023