Would Texas control its own energy exports?

Yes, and that is one of the strongest cards Texas holds. An independent Texas would be one of the largest energy exporters on Earth, selling its own oil, gas, and power on its own terms, with the export revenue staying in Texas.

Texas is already an energy export power

Texas produces far more energy than it consumes, which is the definition of an exporter. It pumps about 43 percent of America's crude oil and 27 percent of its natural gas, and its gas output alone exceeds Iran, Qatar, and Canada combined. As an independent nation Texas would rank among the top three or four oil producers and among the top energy exporters in the world. The Gulf Coast export terminals, the pipelines that feed them, and the refineries behind them are all physically in Texas. The export machine is already here.

Today, Washington sets the export rules. Independence changes that.

Under the current arrangement, the terms of American energy exports, the trade policy, the licensing, the deals with buyer nations, are set in Washington for the whole country. An independent Texas would set its own. It would negotiate directly with the countries that want Texas energy, sign its own trade agreements, and answer to Texas producers and Texas workers rather than to a federal policy balancing fifty states. The decisions about who buys Texas energy and on what terms would be made in Texas.

Buyers come to the supplier, which gives Texas leverage

Energy is the ultimate seller's market for a producer this large. Nations recognize, trade with, and stay on good terms with the country that fuels them. The world does not cut off the supplier of a meaningful share of its oil and gas. That dependency runs in Texas's favor. It is a major reason an independent Texas would find trading partners and recognition coming quickly, because being shut out of Texas energy is not something a serious economy chooses.

The export revenue stays home

When energy leaves Texas today, the value flows into a national economy and the policy is set federally. As an independent nation, the proceeds of Texas energy exports, and the leverage that comes with them, stay in Texas. That is revenue that funds Texas, strengthens the Texas balance sheet, and gives Texas a direct seat at every table where its own resources are bought and sold.

Both halves of Texas energy travel well

This is not only an oil and gas story. Texas is also the largest wind producer in the country and a fast-growing solar producer, and a power-rich nation exports electricity and energy technology too. An independent Texas would control the export of all of it, the molecules and the electrons, on terms it sets for itself.

The bottom line

An independent Texas would be a top-tier global energy exporter setting its own export policy, negotiating directly with the nations that need what Texas produces, and keeping the revenue and the leverage at home.