Energy trade publisher and data provider S&P Global Platts reports that this month the United States is a net exporter of natural gas, exporting an average of 7.4 billion cubic feet a day (bcf/d) topping the 7 bcf/d the U.S. imported.

Given the fact it has been nearly 60 years since the U.S. exported more natural gas than it imported annually, that's a pretty big milestone. Even if it's just for November, the data indicates where things appear to be headed. The U.S. Energy Information Administration projected the U.S. would become a net exporter annually in 2018, but quite clearly it's already starting.

Perhaps more importantly, the November natural gas export/import numbers suggest new U.S. muscularity in the global energy marketplace, built by America's domestic energy renaissance. Record natural gas output, largely developed with advanced hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, is creating export opportunities for U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) and increasing U.S. energy influence globally. The Wall Street Journal reports:

… the exports show how American shale energy producers continue to expand their influence in ways few predicted a decade ago. Gas is just one of the first signs of the growing strength of U.S. production power,†said Anthony Yuen, global energy strategist at Citigroup.

More from the Journal:

Overseas producers now have to deal with the growing clout of the U.S. energy industry, which is aggressively looking to ramp up its global market share to help offset a long period of low prices. It's indicative of things to come,†said Sid Perkins, managing partner at the brokerage Ion Energy Group. Natural gas is going to...