NEW YORK, March 18, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Boosted by surging output, the United States is becoming a significant exporter of crude oil, a shift that is remaking American infrastructure and altering the global petroleum market.
Now pumping more than 10 million barrels per day, the US has become the second biggest oil producer in the world behind Russia and ahead of Saudi Arabia. The bounty is the result of the shale oil boom due to new drilling and production techniques.
Eyeing this jump, the US at the end of 2015 scrapped its embargo on exports, a policy in place since the 1970s oil shocks. Energy companies have seized on the opening, exporting 1.1 million barrels per day to 37 countries in 2017.
Canada is the leading destination of American crude, but the US has also been exporting more to Asia, long a major market for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia.
China is the second biggest market for US exports, data shows.