US reliance on foreign petroleum has fallen this year to a 2

http://www.aei-ideas.org/2013/12/energy ... shale-oil/

"Based on data recently released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), US net petroleum imports have fallen to 34% this year through November, which is America’s lowest reliance on foreign sources of petroleum products since 1986, when imports supplied 33.4% of America’s petroleum (see blue line in chart above). That’s a huge reduction in reliance on foreign petroleum in just eight years – in 2005, the US was dependent on foreign sources for more than 60% of the petroleum supplied to fuel the US economy. The obvious reason for the dramatic reduction in dependence on foreign petroleum is America’s Shale Revolution, which has increased US oil production by 46.5% (and by 2.36 million barrels per day) since 2007 (see red line in chart).

Welcome to America’s Shale Revolution, which has reversed a multi-decade trend of increased reliance on foreign petroleum"...

And imagine how low it would be if we had a pro domestic drilling POTUS?

But, Fred, if gas and electricity prices don't skyrocket how will the Gubment force us to buy and invest in "green energy" sources? Besides, look at all of the companies in the green energy industry that are thriving! Solyndra for example...

To be fair Vestas just got a bunch of new orders....but only because wind tax credits expire soon. Without the government propping up alternative energy it would die on the vine.

I see this "news" yet I just paid a 25% increase and the highest price a gallon in 20 years of buying propane in Colorado.

Freezeman, crude oil is used for both transportation and heating, propane is far more heavily used for heating.

Freezeman wrote: I see this "news" yet I just paid a 25% increase and the highest price a gallon in 20 years of buying propane in Colorado.

Did you notice the cost of crude (the source of LPG) dropping? Of course not, it is a global commodity. Buying less from foreign sources is not the same as buying less overall, or paying less for what has been purchased. What increased domestic production means is that we are less vulnerable to being blackmailed in foreign policy using the threat of decreased supplies of what makes our economy tick. That's the benefit of producing more at home, not lower prices.

You must also consider the effects of taxes, wages, benefits, insurance, tires, and all the other costs incurred to produce and deliver the propane to you when you look at the price you pay. Those costs continue to rise due to taxes, fees and other regulatory burdens that are being added, daily it seems, to the cost of doing business in the Union. Those are costs that are marked up and passed along to you just like every other cost a business incurs in producing their product is.

Look on the bright side Freeze - because propane production is now more profitable, companies will be more interested in producing more of it. More companies producing more product means more competition based on price in the future, which means that your propane costs will be more stable over time than they would be with fewer players in the market.

And out of semi-idle curiosity, what's a gallon of propane selling for these days?

Freezeman wrote: I see this "news" yet I just paid a 25% increase and the highest price a gallon in 20 years of buying propane in Colorado.

On That Note, (LOL)


"Electricity Prices Soar As Government Regulation Surges

The Cost Of Green: In the midst of an unparalleled energy boom, U.S. electricity prices have skyrocketed to new highs. This paradox is a result not of the free market, but of runaway government "green" regulation.
Unnoticed by virtually everyone except the sharp-eyed folks at CNSNews.com, new federal data show that electricity prices have never been higher.
In November, the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Electricity Price Index hit 202.284, an all-time record and nearly 20% higher than just six years ago.
This might strike some as strange, given the private-sector shale-fracking boom going on in the Midwest, Northeast and Texas, which has led to soaring new domestic supplies of natural gas and oil.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, as recently as 2008 the U.S. produced 2.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. Today, it's 12.3 billion cubic feet and growing fast — truly astounding growth.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is on the verge of producing more oil than it ever has, and domestic sources now outstrip foreign ones. Thanks to fracking, more's on the way.
But as energy booms, electricity prices are going up.
Is it just another case of"...


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Gov't still trying to help out the little guy...NOT.