How Long Can the US Be the Oil Supplier of Last Resort?
Everything — including the oil tanks — is bigger in Texas.
Photographer: Mark Felix/Bloomberg
What do the Federal Reserve and the US oil industry have in common? In today’s war-torn market, both are the supplier of last resort. One provides dollars; the other barrels. But that’s where the similarities end. The central bank can print the currency at ease; the drillers cannot.
Facing an unprecedented shortage, the global oil market has called on the US, the world’s top producer, for help. And thanks to the shale revolution, America has been able to respond: Over the last four weeks, US net exports of crude and refined products have averaged a record high of 5.9 million barrels a day, up from 3.3 million a year ago. Only a decade ago, the US was a net importer in excess of 5 million.