17 Sep 2019; MEMO: US President Donald Trump said yesterday that America has become such a big oil producer that it no longer needs petrol from the Middle East.
Writing on Twitter, Trump said: “Because we have done so well with Energy over the last few years (thank you, Mr. President!), we are a net Energy Exporter, & now the Number One Energy Producer in the World.
“We don’t need Middle Eastern Oil & Gas, & in fact have very few tankers there, but will help our Allies!”
However Reuters reported that US government data tells a different story: The technology-driven US drilling boom that started more than a decade ago has made the United States a massive producer, but imports of crude oil and petroleum products from the Gulf region last year still flowed in abundantly.
“By and large, we are still importing quite a bit and not totally immune to the world market,” Reuters reported Jean-François Seznec, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council Global Energy Centre, saying.
On Saturday, Saudi Arabia announced that two attacks targeted its oil plants with Yemen’s Houthi group claiming responsibility for the attack.
Saudi Arabia has not yet announced who was the attacker and said it is investigating the attack which paralysed half of its production.
The US blamed Iran for the attacks, which damaged the world’s biggest crude-processing plant and triggered the largest jump in crude prices in decades, but Iran rejected the US claims.
