Exports needed to deal with increased production

Fuel Fix:

The going rate for a barrel of oil in the U.S. could tumble $30 below international benchmarks in the coming decades if U.S. policymakers don’t reverse a ban on exporting crude oil, according to a report by analyst group Wood Mackenzie.

The falling prices could be made worse by new drilling technology that may boost recovery rates by as much 100 percent and is expected to add an additional 1.5 million to 3 million barrels per day of new oil production. That’s as much as 25 percent more oil than is expected today, according Wood Mackenzie.

U.S. crude oil production has already hit a string of recent highs thanks to technologies such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Production has increased to about 8.5 million barrels per day in June, compared to 5.5 million barrels per day in June of 2011, according to figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
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The anti energy left and rent seeking refineries are teaming up to block free trade in US energy production.  But allowing the trade would give the US a strategic advantage in dealing with despotic regimes like the current ones in Russia and Venezuela.  It would also help Europe deal with Russian aggression.  Both the anti energy left and the refiners are empowering the despots and exporting jobs.