America to Become a Net Fuel Exporter?

The Wall Street Journal has a front page story (subscription required) today reporting the unthinkable:  America is set to become a net fuel exporter for the first time in 62 years.

As I discussed on Monday, America's imports of foreign crude oil have fallen from 60 percent a few years ago to below 46 percent today.  Everyone was aware of our dependence on foreign crude.  What was less well known was our growing dependence on finished products:  we were importing a growing amount of our gasoline, diesel fuel, and the like from such unfriendly locales as Venezuela.

Now the tide has turned, and despite the still large crude oil imports, our exports of gasoline, jet fuel and such have grown large enough to just about tip the balance.  America is set to become a net exporter for the first time since 1949, the Journal reports.

The cloud around this silver lining is that it took a severe recession to make it happen:  when our economy was going well back in 2005, we were big importers.  With our economy in the doldrums, we are exporting to more dynamic economies in Latin America and Asia.  Nonetheless, these export opportunities are fueling new investment and job gains at Gulf Coast refineries and terminals, with ripple effects across the country.

Against this backdrop, the Minneapolis Star Tribune carries a commentary by Charles Ebinger arguing that "Democrats need to get real about U.S. energy policy."  Ebinger is a self-described Democrat and director of the liberal Brookings Institution's Energy Security Initiative.  He believes that Democrats are getting it wrong on energy policy,

"Increased domestic oil production, coupled with growing imports of Canadian oil sands, would result in a reduction of non-North American oil imports, leading to a significant improvement in the country's yawning trade deficit.  Increased gas production would be valuable for cleaner electricity generation (when compared with coal) and could also signal a revival of the U.S. industrial and petrochemical sectors.  Further, if natural gas could be deployed in the commercial heavy-duty vehicle fleet, we would be able to reduce our oil imports dramatically.  We may even be able to export gas to our allies and trading partners."

For the first time in my lifetime, we have the prospect of achieving true energy independence.  Rather than being a drag on our economy and limiting our growth, domestic production and refining of conventional energy sources could actually drive an export-led economic recovery.

If we let it.