The Los Angeles Times reports that “today, pump prices in the U.S. are at multiyear lows. New discoveries and techniques for extracting crude from oil shale have dramatically reversed the long decline in U.S. petroleum production and promise more domestic crude output for years to come.”  

“U.S. crude production this year is projected to average 9.3 million barrels a day, up more than 80% from the low point of just over 5 million in 2007 and 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. America’s net imports of crude oil, meanwhile, are forecast to fall to nearly 6.8 million barrels a day this year from 9.2 million five years ago.”  

“Large oil companies insist that it’s time to lift the restrictions on U.S. exports.”