A popular meme on social media is true, but doesn’t convey its intended message.
A popular meme says: “Remember Just 38 Months Ago We Were The Biggest Producer of Crude oil in The World! #FACT #PERIOD”
This meme is frequently posted on Facebook. It’s intended to convey the message that the United States is not producing as much oil as in the past and that least one country has overtaken us. In the oft-repeated words of former president Donald J. Trump on the campaign trail, “Drill, baby, drill!”
This meme doesn’t refer to specific dates, but it refers to the final days of the Trump administration. In this, the meme is correct, as the U.S. was the biggest oil producer. But the meme is deceptive in that it implies that the U.S. is no longer the largest producer.
The data about oil production is not difficult to find, as the U.S. Energy Information Administration has much data on energy. From its website, I gathered oil production numbers for the U.S. and other major producing countries and made a chart. As you can see, the U.S. became the largest producer in 2013 and has kept that position since then.
While Trump says we must drill, the country is doing just that. U.S. oil production is now higher than at any point in the Trump administration.
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