The American Petroleum Institute (API) believes the U.S. is on track to become a net exporter of crude oil in 2020, in line with predictions made by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The API justified this stance by pointing out that oil export volumes had hit an all-time high of 3.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in June. “The U.S. appears to be making substantive progress towards becoming a net energy exporter in 2020, as projected by the EIA, with production continuing to sustain its upward climb despite oil prices having declined 10 percent between May and June,” said Dean Foreman, the trade association’s chief economist.
Foreman attributed U.S. exporters’ strong performance to the fall in break-even prices and improved productivity in key petroleum provinces. He also pointed out that the launch of new pipelines had helped producers send more oil to market.