text: It should be noted that a 50 percent increase in resource availability is not a "pie-in-the-sky" fantasy. U.S. petroleum production in 2015 was about 50 percent higher than the projection the EIA made for 2015 in 2008. Natural gas production in 2015 was about 40 percent higher than the EIA's 2008 projection. The comparative pessimism on the part of the EIA was largely due to not fully appreciating the impacts of smart drilling technology and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) at that time.