America's Shale Oil Renaissance Came Just In The Nick Of Time

We know we've been harping on this a lot recently, but the American oil output story has, from an economic perspective, been truly remarkable. The EIA just announced that U.S. total crude oil production averaged an estimated 8.5 million barrels per day (bbl/d) in July, the highest monthly level of production since April 1987.

Meanwhile, U.S. oil imports are at lows not seen in 19 years, standing at 7.17 million barrels a day in May.

A new chart from Charles Schwab's Liz Ann Sonders shows another angle: The shale revolution came just when the economy needed it.

You can see that the U.S. shale boom kicked off in the winter of 2008 and 2009 - right when the U.S. economy was at the nadir of the Great Recession.

And we still need its benefits now, Sonders says.

"The energy outlook in the United States is quite encouraging for future growth and US manufacturing competitiveness globally," Sonders writes. "Especially with the Russian and Iraqi uncertainty, it is particularly heartening to know that the United States is less dependent on foreign sources of energy than it has been in quite some time."

We haven't looked back.