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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Could America achieve energy independence by extracting more oil?

Sunday, November 28, 2021

By Jacob Alabab-Moser

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Experts debate whether American energy independence is possible. At the least, it would require more than just upping the quantity of oil extracted domestically.

Each type of crude oil has a particular way it's processed. Newer oil reserves, made accessible by horizontal drilling, typically contain light sweet crude. However, the adjacent refineries are built to handle heavy sour crude. New pipelines and refineries would have to be built to transport and process the oil before it could supply domestic energy needs.

Moreover, because oil is a global commodity, the oil market abroad would continue to affect oil prices in the U.S., even if America produced enough refined oil to supply all of its domestic energy needs.

In 2020, America's oil production exceeded consumption, yet it imported 44% of the oil it consumed and exported 46% of the oil it produced.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

US Government Publishing Office The crude truth: evaluating US energy trade policy

Council on Foreign Relations Is US Energy Independence Possible?

US Energy Information Administration Oil and petroleum products explained: Oil imports and exports

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Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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About fact briefs published on Gigafact

Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.