American Petroleum Institute (API) officials welcomed a recent report from the Department of Commerce revealing that growth in the US oil and natural gas industry contributed to record exports in October.
The US trade deficit shrank to $40.6 billion, a drop of about 5.6%, driven by low energy imports and increased exports of industrial supplies and materials, including petroleum products, according to the report. The Energy Information Administration also noted that US exports of distillate fuel are up 30% from last year.
"The US energy revolution is rapidly strengthening America's position in the global economy, creating millions of jobs, and reducing our trade deficit," said API Chief Economist John Felmy. "American innovations in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have unlocked vast energy reserves, and this growth is critical to the President's efforts to double US exports and reduce our reliance on imports.
"Domestic oil and gas production not only creates opportunities for energy exports, it makes the United States a more affordable place to manufacture valuable products for sale around the world. But to take full advantage of this opportunity, it's important that the Department of Energy quickly address the backlog of applications to export liquefied natural gas and create thousands of new jobs here in America."
Recently, API unveiled a new study demonstrating US job gains and economic growth associated with future exports of liquefied natural gas.
