How Close is the U.S. to Being a Net Energy Exporter?

This content leverages data from USAFacts, a non-profit that visualizes governmental data. You can learn more on its website, Facebook, and Twitter.

The U.S. is closing in on becoming a net exporter of energy for the first time since the Eisenhower administration thanks to increased domestic production that has reduced Americans’ reliance on foreign energy.

In terms of overall energy imports and exports, the U.S. imported 24.8 quadrillion British Thermal Units (BTUs) of energy, and exported about 21.2 quadrillion BTUs, which is the closest the U.S. has been to being a net exporter of energy since the late 1950s as this chart from USAFacts shows. For the first six months of 2019, net energy imports stood at 0.1 BTU.

The increase in exports has been primarily due to increased exports of natural gas, which the U.S. has been a net exporter of since 2017, and crude oil.

According to the available data, the U.S. has been a net exporter of coal since 1949:

Most of America’s petroleum imports come from Canada, at 4.2 million barrels of oil per day. The next two largest sources of U.S. petroleum imports are Saudi Arabia at about 900,000 barrels per day, and Mexico at about 718,000 barrels per day.

— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: iStock.com / curraheeshutter)