Could America achieve energy independence by extracting more oil?
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.