Good news on US energy consumption
- By Richard Branson -
- Jun 06, 2012
I thought the Obama administration hadn't been doing enough in moving the country towards cleaner fuels and becoming more reliant on self-produced oil. But having looked at the statistics, it seems they have dramatically reduced oil imports from outside America and Canada over the last few years.
According to this report, net imports of oil and refined products have been reduced from 12.363 million barrels per day in January and February 2006 to 7.784 million barrels per day in the January and February this year. What’s more, domestic oil production has increased by more than one million barrels per day in the past six years, and domestic consumption of petroleum has decreased by more than three million barrels per day.
Also, natural gas has displaced some 500,000 barrels of oil per month in the transportation market. If the US can keep this up and not take its foot off peddle, it could become self-sufficient in self-produced energy in the coming years. This is great news not just from an environmental point of view, but also for the sake of the world, which is running out of conventional oil.
With increased demand from China and India, the timing couldn’t be better. Hopefully those countries can follow the lead of the US, and we can help reserve the precious oil we’ve got in the ground for future generations.
By Richard Branson. Founder of Virgin Group
