In recent years, the United States has made significant progress when it comes to energy production and exports, Remarkably, this past September the U.S. made history when it exported more petroleum products than it imported for the first time since EIA records began in 1949. Earlier this week, President Trump spoke about oil and natural gas during the State of the Union and stated:

“Thanks to our bold regulatory reduction campaign, the United States has become the No. 1 producer of oil and natural gas anywhere in the world, by far. With the tremendous progress we have made over

GAIN has previously pointed out the significant economic and environmental benefits of natural gas. Increased use of natural gas has played a key role in lowering U.S. carbon emissions from the power sector. Natural gas is cleaner-burning than coal, and is domestically available in shale formations from the Permian in Texas to the Marcellus in Pennsylvania.  The natural gas and oil industry supports more than 10 million jobs each year. Furthermore, oil and gas leases alone generated $1.1 billion of revenue for states in 2018. The benefits go on and on.

Natural gas also provides royalties to mineral owners.

While …