Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The U.S. imported far less energy in 2013 than it had 20 years ago as production of natural gas and oil from shale plays increased, according to a federal Energy Information Administration report released today.

Total U.S. net imports of energy, a measure that combines both petroleum and natural gas, declined in 2013 to their lowest level in more than two decades.

“Growth in the production of oil and natural gas displaced imports and supported increased petroleum product exports, driving most of the decline,” according to the EIA. “A large drop in energy imports together with a smaller increase in energy exports led to a 19% decrease in net energy imports from 2012 to 2013.”

Crude oil production grew 15 percent – about the same pace as in 2012 – which drove imports of crude oil down by 12 percent, accounting for much of the overall decline in imports, according to EIA data.

Net natural gas imports have been declining steadily over the past few years. In 2013, net gas imports were 1,311 billion cubic feet (Bcf), down from 1,519 Bcf in 2012 and 1,963 Bcf in 2011.

Meanwhile, Americans are consuming less of those energy imports than in past years. According to EIA data, net energy imports as a share of total consumption shrunk from 30 percent in 2006 to less than 20 percent in 2012.

That figure is expected to continue to fall.

EIA predicted that net energy imports as a share of total U.S. energy consumption will fall to 6 percent by 2020 and to 3 percent by 2035.

“Increasing onshore oil and natural gas production, aided by horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies, will allow the United States to continue to reduce its net imports of crude oil and to increase refined product exports (such as diesel fuel to Europe) and become a net natural gas exporter later this decade,” according to the EIA.