‘Global trade on American terms’: US becomes world’s top oil exporter 

The U.S. has become the world’s top oil exporter as the conflict between Washington and Iran appears to wind down, according to a Reuters report.

America has now led the world in oil exports for three consecutive months, with its crude oil and fuel exports reaching 10.5 million barrels per day in May, Reuters reported last week, citing data from ship-tracking and data analytics company Vortexa. By comparison, Russian exports trailed behind at 7 million barrels per day and Saudi Arabia’s reached 5.9 million, according to Reuters’ analysis of Vortexa data.

Russia and Saudi Arabia long dominated global oil exports, and the U.S.-Iran conflict’s impact on supply chains, as well as Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian exports, has shifted America’s position in global energy markets. The United States depended on foreign oil until the shale revolution of the 2010s reshaped the industry. The U.S. even had a four-decade-old ban on oil exports – largely uncontested before the shale revolution – that Congress voted to lift in 2015.

“America becoming the world’s largest oil exporter is the culmination of a decades-long energy revolution driven entirely by private enterprise,” Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute, told The Lion. “U.S. output has nearly tripled since 2000, and it’s American companies that met the lion’s share of global demand growth over the past 15 years while Saudi Arabia and Russia stagnated.”

Isaac added that the milestone “also delivers something Washington didn’t fully appreciate until now: energy as geopolitical leverage, the ability to supply allies, undercut adversaries and reshape global trade on American terms. American energy dominance is real, it’s durable, and it’s private-sector led.”

The record was reached days before President Donald Trump announced Sunday that the U.S. and Iran had reached a tentative peace deal. Stocks jumped and oil prices fell Monday morning in response to the announcement, although the official signing of the peace agreement is scheduled for Friday, according to multiple reports.

“The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete. Congratulations to all! I hereby fully authorize the toll-free opening of the Strait of Hormuz and, simultaneously herewith, authorize the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Sunday evening. “Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”