API Welcomes Surge In U.S. Trade On Energy Production Gains

Washington ─ API welcomed a report from the U.S. Department of Commerce revealing that rapid growth in the U.S. oil and natural gas industry helped to make 2013 a record year for U.S. trade. In 2013, the total U.S. trade deficit for goods shrank by $38.3 billion, while the trade deficit in petroleum products dropped by $56.2 billion, due to lower energy imports and increased exports.

“America’s energy revolution is the driving force behind a rapidly improving balance of trade,” said API Chief Economist John Felmy. “Innovations in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have put the U.S. in a position of strength, and we’re seeing that translate into more jobs, more exports, and less dependence on imported energy. Domestic oil and gas production also is powering a resurgence in U.S. manufacturing, as businesses take advantage of affordable and abundant energy supplies here in the U.S. To accelerate this growth and help meet the President’s goal of doubling exports, the Department of Energy should work quickly to address the backlog of applications to export liquefied natural gas and create thousands of new jobs.”

Recently, API unveiled a study demonstrating U.S. job gains and economic growth associated with future exports of liquefied natural gas.

API is the only national trade association representing all facets of the oil and natural gas industry, which supports 9.8 million U.S. jobs and 8 percent of the U.S. economy. API’s more than 580 members include large integrated companies, as well as exploration and production, refining, marketing, pipeline, and marine businesses, and service and supply firms. They provide most of the nation’s energy and are backed by a growing grassroots movement of more than 20 million Americans.