U.S. May Achieve Energy Independence This Decade, Citigroup Says

[FBaggins]

3. Not that it would matter.

It doesn't make much difference whether you produce 10 units of a thing and consume it in the country vs. producing those 10 units for export while importing the same amount. Either way, your trade deficit shrinks and GDP improves. It would only happen where it's cheaper to ship it out than to import foreign supplies to a particular part of the country - as, for instance, with Alaskan oil heading to Japan offset by imports from Mexico to refineries along the Gulf coast (more cost-efficient than shipping Alaskan oil to the Gulf coast).

You may be thinking of natural gas... which already has a surplus of production but limited ability to export it. It's expected that production will increase as export facilities are built.