Fuel is top U.S. export for first time

For the first time, the top export of the United States, the world's biggest gas guzzler, is -- wait for it -- fuel.

Measured in dollars, the nation is on pace this year to ship more gasoline, diesel and jet fuel than any other single export, according to U.S. Census data going back to 1990. It will also be the first year in more than 60 that America has been a net exporter of these fuels.

For the last five years America's top export was aircraft.

For decades the United States has relied on huge imports of fuel from Europe in order to meet demand. Still, the United States is nowhere close to energy independence. America is still the world's largest importer of crude oil. From January to October, the country imported 2.7 billion barrels of oil worth roughly $280 billion.

Fuel exports, worth an estimated $88 billion in 2011, have surged for two reasons: First, crude oil, the raw material from which gasoline and other refined products are made, is a lot more expensive. Second, the volume of fuel exports is rising, as the United States uses less fuel because of a weak economy and more efficient cars and trucks.