Tropical Storm Harvey is upending the flow of oil and petroleum all around the world — a consequence of the growing influence of the U.S. in the global energy industry, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Since the last time a major storm passed through the Gulf Coast, vast quantities of oil and natural gas have been unlocked from shale formations in the U.S. While production from these fields accounts for just a fraction of the global oil market, that output now feeds a huge volume of gasoline, chemicals, plastics and crude exports, which means Harvey will have repercussions of global proportions. And the U.S. Gulf Coast has been at the center of this shift. The area has become an increasingly critical link in the global energy chain. Shipments from the region now satisfy 6 percent of global demand for oil and other liquid petroleum fuels — twice as much as in 2012, according to Barclays PLC.
