1. The Department of Energy released its weekly report today on U.S. crude oil production and reported that domestic oil output averaged 6.818 million barrels per day for the week ending November 23, which was the highest amount of domestically produced oil since the first week of February 1994, almost 19 years ago (see chart above). As a result of the advanced drilling technologies (hydraulic fracking and horizontal drilling) that starting unlocking previously inaccessible shale oil, U.S. oil production started increasing in 2009 and reversed a multi-decade decline in domestic oil output that started in the mid-1980s. Since the shale oil revolution started four years ago, U.S. oil output has increased by 36%, from about 5 million barrels per day in early 2009 to the current level of 6.818 million barrels per day.
2. Net oil imports fell below 40% in October, bringing the year-to-date average down to 41.4%, which is the lowest level for net oil imports since 1992 when imports accounted for 40.7% share of U.S. consumption, twenty years ago (see chart above, EIA data here).