Thanks Fracking: US Oil Imports Continue To Fall

For years the proponents of green energy subsidies told us we had to shower subsidies on things like ethanol and wind power to “end our dependence on foreign oil.” Well, our dependence on foreign oil is shrinking these days, but not because of any government policy. The oil and gas revolution kicked off by innovations like fracking and horizontal drilling are causing US imports of oil to plummet as more oil is produced here in the United States:

More from Professor Mark Perry:

Net petroleum imports in January fell to only 37.3% of total petroleum consumption in the US for that month, according to new estimates from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). For the month of January, that’s the lowest level of US dependence on foreign sources of petroleum in 23 years, going back to January 1991 when imports were only 35% of the total petroleum products consumed. The US produced more oil domestically in January at an average rate of 7.04 million barrels per day (bbl/d) than in any month since December 1998, which helped reduce the share of foreign oil required to meet US demand for petroleum products.

In short, fracking is doing all the things the “green energy” folks couldn’t. It’s creating jobs not dependent on government subsidies. It’s driving down US dependence on foreign oil. And it’s lowering carbon emissions.