US Crude exports help keep oil prices low

Oil exec says law allowing US crude exports helps keep oil prices low despite Mideast tension

FILE - This June 12, 2014 file photo shows an oil rig and pumps in Watford City, N.D. State data shows the number of rigs drilling in North Dakota's oil patch has dropped below 60 for the first time since 2009. Fifty-nine rigs were operating in western North Dakota's oil-producing region on Monday, Jan. 4, 2016. That's down from 171 rigs on the same day one year ago due to slumping oil prices. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

Associated Press Jan. 5, 2016, at 6:15 p.m. + More

WASHINGTON  Oil prices have remained low despite heightened tensions between two of the world's big oil-producing countries, Iran and Saudi Arabia, and a new law allowing U.S. crude exports helps explain why, the oil industry's top lobbyist said Tuesday.
Jack Gerard, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, said the 3-week-old law lifting a 40-year ban on crude exports has already changed the dynamics of the global oil industry.
The potential for U.S. exports, combined with the ongoing U.S. oil boom, means "the United States has come in as a major player" in the global oil market, reducing the influence of countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, Gerard said.
"The geopolitics of energy will never be the same," Gerard said in a speech outlining the industry's priorities for the year.
The price of oil fell 30 percent last year, following a 50 percent plunge in 2014. At below $36 a barrel on Tuesday, the price is down more than 2 percent so far this year. Even heightened tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia have failed to halt the slide amid a persistent glut of oil.
Oil prices are likely to remain about where they are until either production drops or the world economy perks up and drives demand higher.
Gerard said the situation stands in stark contrast to what could have been expected 10 years ago. "Oil would have spiked," he said.
The API and other industry groups pushed hard for the measure lifting the export ban, which they called a relic of the 1970s, when an OPEC oil embargo led to fuel rationing, high prices and iconic images of long lines of cars waiting to fuel up.
The ban was lifted as a part of a massive, year-end budget deal approved by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama last month.
Despite that victory — and a surge in oil and natural gas production in the past seven years — Gerard criticized the Obama administration for imposing what he called unnecessary regulations on oil and gas drilling, especially on federal lands. Most of the increased drilling has occurred on state and private

American auto exports increase, while U.S. auto imports decrease

 U.S. auto trade is undergoing a  drastic change as the import share of the domestic market is set to level off in the next few years and exports of U.S.-made cars rise.
Ever more autos are being made in plants foreign automakers have set up in the U.S. and its North American Free Trade Agreement neighbors. As a result, the share of the U.S. market controlled by auto imports is on the wane after years of growth, while the share of the market controlled by “foreign-badged” cars made in the U.S. is rising.

American paintings' exports on the increase

 Over the last year, there has been a lot of attention on paintings fetching extremely high prices at auctions. Some of these paintings are exported once the sale is complete. In fact, the United States has exported an impressive $48.2 billion* in paintings over the last decade (2003-2013). Take a look at the graph below to see the trend:

America is now the largest natural gas producer

As confirmed  by IEA ( the International Energy Agency), the top 10 natural gas producers in 2013 were   1) United States (23% of total) (bcm):2) Russia 677 (20.0%), 2) , 3) Canada160 (4.7%), 4) Qatar 151 (4.5%), 5) Iran 149 (4.4%), 6) Norway 106 (3.1%), 7) China 103 (3.0%), 8) Saudi Arabia 92 (2.7%), 9) Indonesia 92 (2.7%), 10) Netherlands 81 (2.4%) andWorld 3 388 (100%).