Former President Barack Obama famously challenged then-candidate Donald Trump’s broad economic promises, asking “What magic wand do you have?”
As everyone observing the past two and a half years now knows, there was no magic wand needed. While the economic headlines overwhelmingly document record low unemployment and record higher stock prices, Trump is also delivering in specific areas he promises, such as boosting the nation’s oil production.
Last December America became a net exporter of oil for the first time in 75 years, and now for the first time, we’re the largest producer of oil overall too. As Unbiased America’s Kevin Ryan writes:
The U.S. solidified its status as the world’s biggest energy producer by posting its first full month as a net exporter of crude and petroleum products since government records began in 1949, exporting 89,000 barrels a day more than it imported in September.
While the U.S. has previously reported net exports on a weekly basis, today’s figures mark a key milestone that few would have predicted just a decade ago, before the onset of the shale boom.
America is now also the world’s largest producer of crude oil, exceeding Saudi Arabia for the first time in more than two decades, and surpassing Russia for the first time since 1999. It’s a stunning turnaround for a country whose dependence on foreign sources of oil was once considered a huge security concern.
The pace at which America has become a net exporter is asymptotic, with exports nearly doubling year-over-year in 2018 alone.
This is such an impossible feat that Barack Obama already wants to take credit for it.
