"As the national leader in oil and natural gas production, Texas is paving the way for America's energy independence." - Texas Gov. Greg Abbott
From Sergio Chapa at the Houston Chronicle: "Texas oil wells produced more than 1.54 billion barrels of crude in 2018, beating the previous record of 1.28 billion barrels set in 1973, TIPRO reported in its annual "State of Energy Report" early Monday morning.
Natural gas production also grew, reaching 8.8 trillion cubic feet in 2018, the report stated."
God bless Texas, but also God bless the USA.
From IBD: "Crude oil production in the U.S. has climbed more than 67% in just the past six years. And the Department of Energy expects it will climb an additional 11% next year.
Earlier (in 2018), U.S. production hit 11 million barrels a day, surpassing Russia as the world's largest oil producer, after having blown past Saudi Arabia in February."
In December 2018, the United States exported more oil and fuel than it imported for the first time in 75 years.
I remember the negative nancies whining for years that "We can't compete with OPEC!" Horsecrap. Or better yet, wildcat crap. Also remember that the 67% increase in production during the past six years occurred almost exclusively on private lands; the previous potus being no friend of fossil fuels.
So what does Mr. Supply & Demand have to say about this record production? “Since the beginning of the year, crude oil remains relatively cheap, moving between $51- $55/bbl,” said Jeanette Casselano, AAA spokesperson.
Shazaam. Prices fall when abundance exceeds demand!
In 2012, former potus Obama assured us, "You know, we can't just drill our way to lower gas prices." He also assured us that we could keep our doctor, if we liked our doctor.
"The national average price of gasoline in 2012 was $3.60 a gallon, which is the most expensive annual average on record. The previous annual record was $3.51 a gallon set in 2011..."
For February 2019, the national average price for a gallon of gasoline is $2.28 - thirty cents lower than last last year. Women and minorities hardest benefited.
But wait. There's more winning. With world champion oil and natural gas production comes increased employment numbers in that industry.
"The industry finished 2018 employing 880,681 people, a 5 percent increase over 2017 employment figure, TIPRO reported. Texas accounted for more than 352,000 of those jobs, or about 40 percent, TIRPO reported.
With more than 27,000 new oil and natural gas jobs added, Texas experienced the largest industry gains in 2018, followed by Oklahoma 5,266; New Mexico with 3,626; North Dakota with 2,808 and Colorado with 2,282."
Si, se puede. It's like Trump has a magic wand or something.