How Much Oil Does the U.S. Have?

Ever since President Trump proposed making "America energy independent," people have been asking "how much oil does the U.S. have?"

That's an increasingly important question now that OPEC has cut its oil production to drive up oil prices. This was OPEC's first oil production cut since 2008.

So far, the OPEC production cut has worked. Since WTI crude oil prices bottomed out at a 10-year low of $35.73 per barrel in January 2016, the price of oil jumped 50% to $53.69.

Now that oil prices are rising again, let's break down how much oil the United States has...

This Is How Much Oil the United States Has

The United States is one of the top three oil-producing countries in the world.

The U.S. was the world's leading oil producer through the first three months of 2016, but increased oil production from Saudi Arabia and Russia surpassed American production by the end of the year.

Check out how the United States ranks in the chart below comparing oil production by country.

how much oil does the U.S. have

In 2016, the United States produced an average of 9.1 million barrels of oil a day. That was just under Russia and Saudi Arabia, which produced around 10.8 million each.

Don't Miss: There Are Big Changes and Big Profits Coming to the Oil Sector in 2017

Fourth on the list is Iraq, which produced less than half of the American total, coming in at 4.3 million barrels a day.

Though the United States is one of the biggest oil producers in the world, its third-place ranking in the oil production comparison is the result of falling oil prices.

You see, according to the EIA, more than half of American oil production comes from shale oil. Shale oil is trapped inside of rock formations and is more difficult to extract than the traditional oil found in underground reservoirs.

That means oil prices have to rise to make shale oil profitable. And when it isn't profitable, American oil companies don't bother extracting it.

But now that oil prices are starting to rise again, American shale producers have started pumping more oil again. In fact, American oil production has risen 2.2% since the start of the year.

As Saudi Arabia and Russia both cut oil production as part of the OPEC agreement, the United States could once again become the world's leading oil producer.

But petroleum production by country is only one part of the answer. We also need to look at how much oil is in the ground.

The EIA reports the United States has proven oil reserves of 40 billion barrels, which is tenth highest in the world. The United States also keeps an extra 695 million barrels in its Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Venezuela and Saudi Arabia have the largest proven oil reserves in the world, with 298 billion and 268 billion, respectively.

Even though Saudi Arabia has seven times the proven oil reserves of the United States, it's losing its oil war with the U.S.

Here's how the United States is beating Saudi Arabia at its own game...

U.S. Oil Production in 2017 Will Lead to Big Profits

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In 2014, oil prices were soaring above $90 a barrel. And that meant American shale oil was booming. And the Saudis wanted to put an end to it.

In November 2014, Saudi Arabia shot down an OPEC agreement to cap oil production. Instead, the Saudis wanted to use their massive oil reserves to put American oil companies out of business.

You see, Saudi Arabia feared they were losing money to American shale oil producers. So the Saudis decided to drive down the price of oil to the point where American companies couldn't survive. That way they could eliminate competition from the United States and keep raking in the oil money.

They were wrong.

Instead of folding up and going away, American oil companies got more innovative instead. The breakeven price for shale oil dropped from $65 a barrel in 2014 to below $40 a barrel today.

That meant even though the Saudis succeeded in collapsing oil prices, American oil companies were still surviving. And in November 2016, the Saudis and the rest of OPEC gave up and decided they couldn't tolerate low oil prices anymore.

That's why OPEC struck its historic oil production deal on Nov. 30. Oil prices have shot up 15% since then.

But the big winners of higher oil prices are American oil companies. And we've put together a list of the best oil stocks to buy in 2017 so you can profit from Saudi Arabia's loss. Read on to see our top oil stocks to buy...

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