As a critical link in the nation’s energy supply, the oil and natural gas industry makes many important contributions to the U.S. economy by providing an economical energy source for transportation and the production of other goods. According to U.S. Department of Energy, the oil sector currently supplies more than 40% of the nation’s total energy demands and more than 99% of the fuel used by Americans in their cars and trucks. Additionally, 900 of the next 1,000 U.S. power plants will use natural gas.
In addition to the important products made available by the oil and natural gas industry, the industry also makes significant economic contributions as an employer and purchaser of goods and services. The oil and natural gas industry is one of the largest employers in the country, employing millions of Americans in exploring, producing, processing, transporting, and marketing oil and natural gas. Millions of other jobs are supported by the industry’s purchases of goods and services from other producers.
Facts and Figures About the U.S. Oil and Natural Gas Industry
97 | Percent of U.S. transportation that is oil-based, including cars as well as the trucks, trains, planes and ships that haul passengers and supplies |
80 | Percent of the world's oil and natural gas reserves exclusively controlled by foreign governments |
1.6 | Percent of the world's oil and natural gas reserves controlled by U.S. energy companies (the total amount of reserves managed by all investor-owned companies is just six percent) |
86 million | Barrels of oil a day that the world uses |
55 | Percent increase in global energy demand between now and 2030, according to the International Energy Agency |
22 | Percent increase in the amount of oil the U.S. will consume in 2030 compared to 2005, according to the U.S. Department of Energy |
12.3 | Percent of gasoline used in the United States that would be saved if every acre of corn was used for ethanol |
1 trillion | Barrels of oil that energy companies have produced in the history of the world to date |
6-7 trillion | Barrels of conventional oil and non-conventional resources – like extra-heavy oil, oil sands, and oil shale – that are already known to be available worldwide |
60 million | Number of cars that could be powered, in addition to 25 million homes that could be heated with the crude oil resources domestically in the U.S. for 60 years |
50 | Number of years those homes could be heated with those oil and natural gas resources |
$1.3 trillion | Amount America's oil and natural gas companies invested in long-term energy initiatives between 1992 and 2006 |
$98 billion | Amount America's oil and natural gas companies invested in energy technologies, including renewable and alternative forms of energy, over the past five years in North America |
61 | Percent of oil the U.S. will have to import by 2030, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, up from 60 percent in 2006 and 36 percent in 1980 |
6 | Percent of energy use currently supplied by renewable sources, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which expects the figure to increase by only two percent by the year 2030 |