If the U.S. is now an oil exporter, why $4 gas?

April 11, 2012: 10:27 AM ET
 

Today's high gasoline prices prove that drilling for more oil in the U.S. doesn't lower energy costs. We have Wall Street to thank for that.

By Leah McGrath Goodman, contributor

FORTUNE -- The U.S. is now selling more petroleum products than it is buying for the first time in more than six decades. Yet Americans are paying around $4 or more for a gallon of gas, even as demand slumps to historic lows. What gives?

Americans can be forgiven for doubting the U.S. is producing more oil today than anytime in the last eight years – a fact President Obama has hammered home again and again in his latest rounds of campaign stumping. Meanwhile, Republicans point to the rising price of gas, which seems to indicate a less-than-plentiful oil supply.