The U.S. is the closest it has been in almost 20 years to achieving energy self-sufficiency, a goal the nation has been pursuing since the 1973 Arab oil embargo triggered a recession and led to lines at gasoline stations. Domestic oil output is the highest in eight years. The U.S. is producing so much natural gas that, where the government warned four years ago of a critical need to boost imports, it now may approve an export terminal. Methanex Corp., the world's biggest methanol maker, plans to dismantle a factory in Chile and reassemble it in Louisiana to take advantage of low natural gas prices. Higher mileage standards and federally mandated eth-anol use, along with slow economic growth, have curbed demand.
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