“This year’s presidential race features an oddity: a discussion about a ban on fracking. What’s striking is that such a conversation is happening at all. This talk takes participants through the Wayback Machine to the first two decades of this century, when hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling—together known as fracking—came to public attention. The U.S. was then the world’s largest importer of oil. Today it is energy-independent with, S&P Global estimates, more than 70% of its oil and more than 80% of its natural gas produced through fracking. The process has become essential to the nation’s energy supply and can’t be eliminated.“
“Not long ago the prospect of U.S. energy independence seemed fanciful. For more than four decades every president aspired to it, but their goal seemed unattainable. Many observers considered the U.S. destined to grow more dependent on imports. In recent years, however, America has achieved energy independence on a net basis. U.S. output is closing in on 13.5 million barrels of crude oil a day, exceeding that of perennial big producers Saudi Arabia and Russia by several million barrels per day. Add what are called natural-gas liquids, and the U.S. produces around 20 million barrels per day.“
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 