Americas News
U.S. to be Biggest Oil Producer by 2020
Thanks to the extraction of oil from shale rock, the U.S. will become the world's biggest oil producer by around 2020, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
At that time the impact of new fuel-efficiency measures in transport will start to be seen, and the result will be a continued fall in U.S. oil imports such that North America becomes a net oil exporter around 2030, and the U.S. "all but self-sufficient" in its energy needs.
Shale oil is extracted with a method called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which involves pumping water, sand and chemicals into the ground at high pressure.
The IEA predicts that the practice will allow the U.S. to hit production of 11.1 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2020, compared with 10.6 million from Saudi Arabia, currently the largest oil producer.
The U.S., which currently imports about 20 percent of its energy needs, will also be the world's largest gas producer by 2015, overtaking Russia, also through the use of fracking.
The report says rising U.S. production could have a major impact on international political dynamics since it could reduce U.S. interest in the Middle East.
A report last month by Canadian financial group Desjardins predicted that North America - but not the U.S. alone - would be oil independent by 2020, and that total U.S. self-sufficiency in terms of oil supply would require the development of several new resources similar to the Bakken region in North Dakota.
