• President Trump Monday said that the US was no longer dependent on Middle Eastern oil, a reference to recent, destabilizing attacks on a Saudi production facility.
  • “Because we have done so well with Energy over the last few years (thank you, Mr. President!), we are a net Energy Exporter, & now the Number One Energy Producer in the World,” he wrote.
  • On Saturday two oil refineries in Saudi Arabia were damaged in attacks US officials claim Iran likely committed.
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President Donald Trump in a tweet early Monday attempted to calm reactions to spiking oil prices by saying that the US is no longer dependent on Middle Eastern oil, a situation for which he took personal credit.

“Because we have done so well with Energy over the last few years (thank you, Mr. President!), we are a net Energy Exporter, & now the Number One Energy Producer in the World. We don’t need Middle Eastern Oil & Gas, & in fact have very few tankers there, but will help our Allies!” tweeted the president.

However, although the US imports less Saudi oil than it used to, it still receives 9% of its supply from the country. It is also debatable whether Trump is personally responsible for the change.

Trump issued the tweet after attacks on two oil facilities in eastern Saudi Arabia on Saturday caused global oil prices to spiral. Iran has denied the accusations by the US it was behind the attack.

In January, the US Energy Department said that the boom in US oil and gas production would make the US a net energy exporter by 2020. According to some reports, the US has been the larger global energy producer since 2014, about halfway through Barack Obama's second term.

The sources of the boom are in the shale oil revolution, which began last decade.

But experts say that the US still won't be fully energy independent in 2020, because its refineries rely on the medium and heavy crude oils found overseas, not just the lighter crude oil extracted in the US.

Recent US government figures, dated to 2018, say that the US imports around 900,000 barrels of Saudi oil per day, 9% of its total imports. The same figures say that 16% of US oil comes from the Persian Gulf region, and 29% from OPEC countries.

"Until the US refining sector is able to process more lighter crudes, we're never going to have energy independence," Joe McMonigle, a former Energy Department official under President George W. Bush, told CNN.