The Department of Energy’s statistics arm has reported that the United States of America is on schedule to export more energy products than it imports by 2022 as oil and natural gas production from the nation’s shale fields keep booming and domestic energy demand remains fairly tepid, according the Department of Energy’s statistics arm.
The country will achieve the feat as it expands natural gas exports beyond its traditional North American markets, shipments of crude oil increase and outward flows of refined products such as gasoline remain robust.
The nation’s anemic appetite for energy will also play a role in the United States becoming a net exporter. U.S. energy consumption is forecast to grow by only 0.4 percent through 2050, compared with expectations for economic growth of 2 percent. If the forecast bears out, 2022 will mark the first year the US energy exports surpassed imports since 1953.
Photo caption: The Eagle Ford crude oil tanker sails out of the the NuStar Energy dock at the Port of Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S., on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016.
Image courtesy of Eddie Seal/Bloomberg/Getty Images