U.S. annual crude oil imports and exports 1870-2022

The U.S. has consistently been the largest oil market in the world for over a century, and the vast majority of oil produced has been for its domestic market. However, the domestic supply has rarely been able to meet domestic demand, and foreign oil prices are often lower (even after taxes and shipping), therefore large quantities of oil have had to be imported from overseas. Apart from the period surrounding the World Wars and Great Depression, the U.S., has been a net importer of oil for over a century, even prohibiting the majority of its crude oil from being exported between 1975 and 2015. However, thanks to the discovery of new oil reserves, new technologies, and developments in the unconventional oil industry (such as fracking, horizontal drilling, or shale refinement), the U.S. may be on course to become a net exporter of oil in the 2020s, the decade after it lifted its export ban.