US now running a trade surplus with OPEC

E&E News:
The United States may record an annual trade surplus with OPEC in 2015, after decades of posting nothing but deficits.

It's a startling turn of events that can be tied directly to the shale oil boom, and the crude price plunge that is now challenging the oil and gas industry in the United States.

The United States has never run an annual surplus with the members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries collectively as far back as numbers are available. The statistics have historically shown only persistently large and ever-expanding trade deficits from 1985 on, reflecting past U.S. dependence on imported oil from OPEC members.

But that trend stopped in 2011 and reversed, then gained momentum in the other direction in 2014. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) posted revised figures for U.S. international transactions Thursday. The updated statistics still show a trend away from deficits with OPEC and toward surpluses instead.

BEA economist Ed Dozier said the reason behind the reversal of fortunes is simple: The United States is importing a lot less from OPEC these days.
...
The shale revolution has turned this particular trade deficit around.  The material the US is selling OPEC countries is still about the same, the US is just buying less oil from them.  OPEC is taking money from other purchasers and using it to invest in US equipment, which means countries like China are indirectly reducing the US trade deficit.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Should Republicans go ahead and add Supreme Court Justices to head off Democrats

Washington Post: Some Democrats eye adding more justices to the Supreme Court to change its ideological bent The once-remote idea has gained the attention of liberals angered by the GOP push to remake the federal courts. Probably the easy way to defeat this court-packing scheme is for Trump to propose doing the same thing now.  It would lead to Democrat denunciations and claims that it would be wrong, thereby blowing up any attempt by them in the unfortunate event of Democrats winning a presidential election.
Read more

Is the F-35 obsolete?

Headline USA: Pentagon Fires Back after Musk Calls Its Most Expensive Project ‘Obsolete’ 'Yeah, as I'm sure you can appreciate, Mr. Musk is, currently, a private citizen, I'm not going to make any comments about what a private citizen may have to say about the F-35....'   ... ... Drones appear to be replacing jets for many operations.  The Russia-Ukraine war is an example of that.  Drones are often hard to detect and can be used for intelligence operations as well as for attacking enemy targets.  It would not surprise me to see drones engaging other drones in combat.  They also cost much less than manned fighters.  
Read more

Apple's huge investment in US including Texas facility

Blaze: Apple announced a $500 billion commitment to infrastructure in the United States over four years, its largest commitment to domestic spending to date. Apple said it will expand teams and facilities in Arizona, California, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, and Washington as part of its new spending. With a new facility in Houston, Texas, Apple will reportedly double its investment in advanced manufacturing along with increasing investments in AI and silicon engineering. The company said in a press release that the Houston facility will produce servers to support Apple Intelligence, the "personal intelligence system that helps users write, express themselves, and get things done." ... The Texas facility will be for advanced technologies.   Texas has become a place that is very supportive of the tech industries.  Austin and Houston have seen much of the tech growth in the state.  Texas universities have been active in the AI field.
Read more