Trade Deficit in U.S. Plunges on Record Petroleum Exports

[Purveyor]

The trade deficit in the U.S. narrowed more than forecast in December, led by record exports of petroleum that gave the world’s largest economy a boost at the end of 2012.

The gap shrank 20.7 percent to $38.5 billion, lower than any estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 73 economists and the least since January 2010, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The jump in fuel sales to overseas buyers, combined with purchases of the fewest barrels of imported crude in almost 16 years, led to the smallest petroleum deficit since August 2009.

The figures probably mean the economy managed to eke out a gain in the fourth quarter of last year, revised data may show later this month, even as military spending dropped by the most since the Vietnam War era. Record exports to South and Central America and to Newly Industrialized Countries including South Korea and Singapore indicate American companies such as Caterpillar Inc. will benefit from improving global growth.

“The improvement in exports is encouraging,” said Brian Jones, a senior U.S. economist at Societe Generale in New York, who projected the gap would drop to $43.3 billion, the third- lowest in the Bloomberg survey. “With Europe looking less weak and Asia getting better, the outlook for U.S. exports has got to be pretty positive.”

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-08/trade-deficit-in-u-s-plunges-on-record-petroleum-exports.html

[earthside]

1. Is this insane?

The U.S. is still importing a huge about of crude oil.

But we are now exporting gasoline, heating oil, kerosine, etc.

Meanwhile, the price of a gallon of gas for the everyday commuting public is going up again at an alarming rate.

I wonder who is making a bunch of money off of this scheme?

It couldn't be the 'energy' corporations, could it?

And this is exactly what will happen with the Keystone pipeline, too.

All that dirty, dirty, dirty tar sand crude will end-up being refined in Louisiana and then exported to ... China. But the U.S. trade deficit will look better, uh?

[riqster]

2. It's been going on for years

Senator Wyden laid it out: http://www.pcs.cnu.edu/~brash/phys103/wyden_oil_report.pdf

[bigtree]

3. excluding petroleum, it still shrank

"The trade shortfall excluding petroleum shrank to $36.9 billion from $41.5 billion a month earlier. "


Friday’s report showed that American exports surged by $8.6 billion during the month, lifted by sales of industrial supplies, including a $1.2 billion increase of non-monetary gold. In a reflection of a boom in oil output driven by hydraulic fracturing technologies, petroleum exports rose by nearly $1 billion during the month to a record level.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/09/business/us-trade-deficit-shrinks.html?_r=0

[Arctic Dave]

4. "non-monetary gold"?

Hmmmm.

Does this sound strange to anyone else?

Wonder what the huge uptick is for?