US Severing Its Dependence on Oil, Domestic and Otherwise

Shepard's Flat Wind Farm, Oregon by Steve Wilson
Shepherd’s Flat Wind Farm, Oregon by Steve Wilson

According to data collected from several sources, the United States seems to be reducing its reliance not only on foreign sources for oil, but for oil all together.

A sign of the new abundance of oil which is reducing our dependence on foreign oil is the drastic decline in the price of oil since the middle of the year, falling to price which has not been seen in five years. In concert with this development is the increase in shale boom which has boosted US oil production to the most it has been in 30 years.

In spite of the ready availability of abundant, cheap oil, consumption has not gone up. Instead the US is consuming the smallest amount of oil per dollar of GDP in over forty years. Whereas the US GDP and oil consumption used to go up and down together, today they seem to move independently. The fact that they are not linked is a sign that the US is severing its dependence on oil to fuel the economy. How did that happen?

For one thing, cars are highly fuel efficient and getting better every day. As baby boomers retire, they use fuel less and less. Young people are moving into the cities where cars are used less and public transportation is used more. Renewable energy sources are becoming ever more important sources fuel.

With the increase in production and decrease in consumption, imports to the US of oil resources have declined. Today we purchase almost no oil from countries like Russia and Nigeria, and our dependence on OPEC oil has also been in decline. In addition, the US is exporting its own supplies of crude oil, skyrocketing in the middle of 2014.

Almost 90 percent of the energy consumed in 2014 was produced right at home, bringing the US closer to 100 percent energy independence.