Kevin Hall, of McClatchy, writes:

“U.S. demand for oil and refined products - including gasoline - is down sharply from last year, so much that United States has actually become a net exporter of gasoline, unable to consume all that it makes.”

So far so good.

“Exports of U.S. refined product averaged 2.928 million barrels per day over the four weeks ending on Feb. 10, compared to 2.190 million barrels per day for the four weeks ending Feb. 11, 2011, the EIA said. This category is primarily gasoline, but it includes unfinished oils, fuel additives, ethanol and other blending components.”

Um.  No.  This category is not primarily gasoline.  Using the EIA data this is what we see:

Then we get the export fear mongering:

“The export picture suggests that when domesti... more »

API Chief Economist John Felmy, discussing gasoline prices and other issues in a conference call with reporters on Tuesday:

“By far, the single biggest factor in today’s higher gasoline prices is the rising cost of crude oil. It has driven virtually all of the rise in gasoline prices. Crude oil prices are up because of supply and demand. World demand for crude is increasing as the economies of the world begin to recover, and the world’s excess oil production capacity is shrinking. Buyers of crude oil also are clearly concerned about the instability of major oil producing nations in North Africa and the Middle East.”

Felmy described how the price of a gallon of gasoline is dominated by two factors: the cost of the crude oil used to make it and taxes levied on each gallon by gov... more »

Remember how opponents of greater access to U.S. oil and natural gas resources scoffed at the idea of developing reserves in remotest Alaska, saying the oil would take 10 years to come online and therefore wouldn’t help crude supplies in the Lower 48?

Guess what: We’re there. It’s 10 years later, and those reserves in Alaska are still waiting to be tapped – even as Washington enters another round of finger-pointing over energy.

Here’s an indisputable point: If access to an airport-sized swatch of the 19-million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) had been granted a decade ago, a million barrels of oil per day could be part of America’s supply equation instead of an academic debating point. As the debate renews, National Review’s Jim Geraghty helps out with a list of some of t... more »

Earlier this month we posted on the way a well-intended measure to foster transparency in U.S. oil and natural gas companies’ dealings with foreign governments could put American firms at a competitive disadvantage in the global marketplace. Key points:

• Reporting rules requiring public disclosure of detailed information submitted to foreign governments by U.S. companies, potentially pertaining to every single well drilled abroad, could hand proprietary material to global competitors.
• Disclosure requirements would apply only to companies listed with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), exempting a number of the biggest international oil and natural gas companies – including foreign state-owned entities that control 78 percent of the world’s proven reserves.

William O... more »

In his State of the Union message last month, President Obama staked out the administration’s position on trade, citing new deals with a number of countries around the world and the quest for new trade opportunities:

“We’re also making it easier for American businesses to sell products all over the world. Two years ago, I set a goal of doubling U.S. exports over five years. With the bipartisan trade agreements we signed into law, we’re on track to meet that goal ahead of schedule. And soon, there will be millions of new customers for American goods in Panama, Colombia, and South Korea.  … I will go anywhere in the world to open new markets for American products.”

Some in Congress apparently didn’t get the memo about new markets for American products. There’s an effort afoot to re... more »