Americas News
U.S. to Be Second-Largest Oil Producer in 2014
Booming shale oil production will make the U.S. the world's second-biggest oil producer in 2014, the Financial Times reports, citing data from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The nation's crude oil output has risen 50 percent since 2010, and continuing growth in 2014 is likely to push its output above Russia's, making it second only to Saudi Arabia.
The IEA puts average U.S. production of petroleum liquids, which includes liquid natural gas as well as crude oil, at 11.03 million barrels per day in 2014, compared with 10.86 million for Russia.
U.S. crude oil imports have reduced dramatically since 2005, thanks in part to higher domestic production, and China has already overtaken the country as the world's largest net oil importer.
A law dating from the 1970s bans almost all crude oil exports from the U.S., and some observers say continued output growth, along with potential Canadian imports from the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline, could cause a glut in the Gulf of Mexico if the ban stays in place.
"Right now it's not a huge problem, but it has the potential to be quite a big problem in about two years," said Scott Lincicome of the pro-market Cato Institute.
"We're going to blink, and it will be on us."
Earlier this year, U.S. oil industry players said that the increasing use of shale oil, which is lighter than other crude oils, was reducing the amount of fuel oil produced at Gulf Coast refineries.
