It’s easy to forget now, but just a few short years ago the United States was the biggest oil importer in the world by a considerable margin, and sold exactly zero barrels internationally thanks to laws prohibiting the export of U.S. oil. This now sounds like an absurdity thanks to the shale oil and gas renaissance, ushered in by hydro-fracking, that has allowed the U.S. to become a major oil exporter to Europe and Asia alike. Now, thanks to political turmoil and oil sanctions in exporting powerhouses Iran and Venezuela, the U.S. is ready to step into their place and inch ever closer to what was once unthinkable–becoming a net oil exporter. At a global oil trading industry gathering last September, oil producers from the United States came well prepared to usher in the new era of U.S. oil exports. Exxon Mobil, for one, along with their European competitor […]