Michael Haspel Zeroes in on US Energy Exports

(Newswire.net — April 4, 2018) Dallas, Texas — Oil and natural gas exporters in the United States set a new record in 2017, eclipsing previous marks. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), part of the Department of Energy, exports measured 17.99 quadrillion British Thermal Units (Btu) last year. That figure represents a 27.4 percent increase from export levels in 2016. Michael Haspel, a noted energy production industry analyst headquartered in Dallas, Texas, knows that this record follows a downward trend in the U.S. energy trade deficit. “Our country’s trade deficit reached a twenty-year low in 2017,” says Michael. “Both figures point to a resurgent oil and natural gas production industry in the United States.” To learn more about the record-setting energy exports, visit https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/us-energy-exports-hit-record-2017-petroleum-and-natural-gas-both-hit.

Coal exports also increased in 2017. While records were not broken in coal exports, the increase represented a 60.9 percent gain from 2016 figures. Including oil, natural gas, and coal exports in 2017, the merchandise trade value reached a figure exceeding $136 billion. This value was offset by the merchandise trade value of energy imports of nearly $195 billion. Put together, the U.S. energy trade balance for 2017 stands at -$58.5 billion. According to the Monthly Energy Review, published by the EIA, this is the smallest trade deficit the U.S. has experienced since 1998.

Industry analysts like Michael Haspel have credited new technologies in the export increases experienced in 2017. Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as “fracking”, has spurred development of new oil and natural gas resources. This method uses water and chemicals pumped at high pressures into rock formations, fracturing them and allowing hydrocarbons to be extracted. The shale oil produced through hydraulic fracturing tends to be of a higher quality than other countries’ productions, increasing demand for U.S. exports to countries around the world. Directional drilling, used by natural gas producers, has opened new shale formations to extraction. These technologies have created a resurgence in petroleum production operations. In fact, according to the Congressional Research Service, these new technologies have led to the U.S. becoming the world’s largest natural gas producer as of 2009. Directional drilling, sometimes referred to in the energy industry as horizontal drilling, for natural gas resources has paved the way for unconventional formations to be exploited, allowing natural gas to be produced more economically.

The United States stands to become a net exporter of energy resource by 2022, according to a number of energy industry analysts. As technologies mature, the petroleum industry will continue to tap into unexplored formations, keeping production levels high and improving the outlook for the U.S. energy industry for many years to come. For more information on Michael Haspel and his work in the oil production field, visit https://newswire.net/newsroom/pr/00099929-michael-haspel-weighs-in-on-crude-oil-price-fluctuations.html.