U.S. Seen as Biggest Oil Producer After Overtaking Saudi - Bloomberg Bloomberg the Company & Its Products Bloomberg Anywhere Remote LoginBloomberg Anywhere Login Bloomberg Terminal Demo Request Bloomberg Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the world. Customer Support Advertising Bloomberg Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the world. Customer Support U.S. Seen as Biggest Oil Producer After Overtaking Saudi Grant Smith The U.S. will remain the world’s biggest oil producer this year after overtaking Saudi Arabia and Russia as extraction of energy from shale rock spurs the nation’s economic recovery, Bank of America Corp. said. U.S. production of crude oil, along with liquids separated from natural gas, surpassed all other countries this year with daily output exceeding 11 million barrels in the first quarter, the bank said in a report today. The country became the world’s largest natural gas producer in 2010. The International Energy Agency said in June that the U.S. was the biggest producer of oil and natural gas liquids. “The U.S.

increase in supply is a very meaningful chunk of oil,” Francisco Blanch, the bank’s head of commodities research, said by phone from New York. “The shale boom is playing a key role in the U.S. recovery. If the U.S. didn’t have this energy supply, prices at the pump would be completely unaffordable.” The most important business stories of the day. Get Bloomberg's daily newsletter. The latest political news, analysis, charts, and dispatches from Washington. You will now receive the Politics newsletter Markets The most important market news of the day. So you can sleep an extra five minutes. You will now receive the Markets newsletter Technology Insights into what you'll be paying for, downloading and plugging in tomorrow and 10 years from now. You will now receive the Technology newsletter Pursuits What to eat, drink, wear and drive – in real life and your dreams. You will now receive the Pursuits newsletter Game Plan The school, work and life hacks you need to get ahead. You will now receive the Game Plan newsletter Oil extraction is soaring at shale formations in Texas and North Dakota as companies split rocks using high-pressure liquid, a process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

The surge in supply combined with restrictions on exporting crude is curbing the price of West Texas Intermediate, America’s oil benchmark. The U.S., the world’s largest oil consumer, still imported an average of 7.5 million barrels a day of crude in April, according to the Department of Energy’s statistical arm. Surpassing Saudi U.S. oil output will surge to 13.1 million barrels a day in 2019 and plateau thereafter, according to the IEA, a Paris-based adviser to 29 nations. The country will lose its top-producer ranking at the start of the 2030s, the agency said in its World Energy Outlook in November. “It’s very likely the U.S. stays as No. 1 producer for the rest of the year” as output is set to increase in the second half, Blanch said. Production growth outside the U.S. has been lower than the bank anticipated, keeping global oil prices high, he said. Partly as a result of the shale boom, WTI futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange remain at a discount of about $7 a barrel to their European counterpart, the Brent contract on ICE Futures Europe’s London-based exchange.

WTI was at $103.74 a barrel as of 4:13 p.m. London time. Islamist Insurgency “The shale production story is bigger than Iraqi production, but it hasn’t made the impact on prices you would expect,” said Blanch. “Typically such a large energy supply growth should bring prices lower, but in fact we’re not seeing that because the whole geopolitical situation outside the U.S. is dreadful.” Territorial gains in northern Iraq by a group calling itself the Islamic State has spurred concerns that oil flows could be disrupted in the second-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries after Saudi Arabia. Exports from Libya have been reduced by protests, while Nigeria’s production is crimped by oil theft and sabotage. Libya will resume exports as soon as possible from two oil ports in the country’s east after taking back control from rebels who blocked crude shipments for the past year, Mohamed Elharari, spokesman for the state-run National Oil Corp., said by phone yesterday from Tripoli. The U.S. will consolidate its position as the world’s biggest producer in the coming months if returning Libyan supply limits the need for Saudi barrels, said Julian Lee, an oil strategist who writes for Bloomberg News First Word.

The observations he makes are his own. Record Investment “There’s a very strong linkage between oil production growth, economic growth and wage growth across a range of U.S. states,” Blanch said. Annual investment in oil and gas in the country is at a record $200 billion, reaching 20 percent of the country’s total private fixed-structure spending for the first time, he said. A U.S. Commerce Department decision to allow the overseas shipment of processed ultra-light oil called condensate has fanned speculation the nation may ease its four-decade ban on most crude exports. Pioneer Natural Resources Co. and Enterprise Products Partners LP will be allowed to export condensate, provided it is first subject to preliminary distillation, the companies said June 25. The decision was “a positive first step” to dispersing the build-up of crude supply in North America, Bank of America said in a report on June 27. The U.S. could potentially have daily exports of 1 million barrels of crude, including 300,000 of condensate, by the end of the year, according to a June 25 report from Citigroup Inc. Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal.

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Welcome to the new FT.com. The same global insight. Faster than ever before on all your devices. Texas set to be world's second largest oil producer | The Daily Caller TOP Pump jacks and wells are seen in an oil field on the Monterey Shale formation where gas and oil extraction using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is on the verge of a boom on March 23, 2014 near McKittrick, Calif.(Photo by David McNew/Getty Images) 4170309 What’s Texas’ biggest problem these days? There’s so much oil being produced in the state that it can’t be refined quickly enough. Texas is on its way to become the world’s second largest oil producer, but a 1970s law blocking crude oil exports from the United States means that much of that oil is sitting idle in the Lone Star State waiting to be refined. Texan officials are joining the oil industry and federal lawmakers in calling for an end to the oil export ban, put in place in the wake of OPEC’s oil embargo on the U.S. and its allies. But now that U.S. oil production is booming, calls for the export ban to lifted have been increasing.

“That’s one of the reasons why a number of people in the industry and I have called on the federal government to reconsider limitations on exports of American oil,” Texas Railroad Commissioner David Porter told 1200 WOAI’s Michael Board . In just five short years, crude oil production in Texas has more than doubled, from 1.1 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2008 to more than 2.5 million barrels per day last year, according to government data . Last year, Texas produced 35 percent of all the U.S. oil, but the state is projected to become the world’s second largest oil producer by the end of this year — only Saudi Arabia will produce more oil. Experts say that hydraulic fracturing in the Eagle Ford shale formation could bring Texas oil production to about 3.4 million barrels per day by the end of 2014, according to the Houston Chronicle . Texas production alone would surpass production in Iraq and Iran. This is good news for oil refiners who will stay busy creating petroleum products and exporting them around the world — last year the U.S. exported record-levels of petroleum products like gasoline.

But this is bad news for oil companies without refining operations whose oil sits idle waiting to be refined. Not to mention the fact that refiners can get this oil at a discount. “At some point in time we are going to exceed our production capacity, especially of sweet crude oil in the U.S, which is what Eagle Ford oil is,” said Porter, adding that refineries can’t be expanded fast enough to handle U.S. light crude production. Federal lawmakers have been pushing President Obama to use his executive authority to lift portions of the country’s oil export ban. Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski put out a report showing that there is precedent for Obama to use his authority to lift parts of the export ban. “The historical record is clear that the executive branch retains the authority to permit crude oil exports under certain conditions,” reads Murkowski’s report . “In fact, this was done on several occasions by successive administrations.” “Even statutes that generally prohibit the export of crude oil contain provisions that permit the president to authorize exports under certain conditions,” the report adds. The White House, however, has given no indication whether or not it will act to ease the oil export ban, especially in the face of staunch environmental opposition to all fossil fuel development and export. U.S.

Overtakes Saudi Arabia and Russia as Largest Oil Producer - IER U.S. Overtakes Saudi Arabia and Russia as Largest Oil Producer July 10, 2014 Tweet Facebook According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Bank of America, the United States is now the world’s largest oil and natural gas liquids producer and will remain so for awhile, overtaking both Saudi Arabia and Russia. U.S. production of crude oil, along with liquids separated from natural gas, surpassed all other countries with daily output exceeding 11 million barrels during the first 5 months of this year. Oil production is soaring from shale formations in Texas and North Dakota using hydraulic fracturing and directional drilling technology. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), those two states produced almost 50 percent of the nation’s oil in April 2014.[i] The United States became the world’s largest natural gas producer in 2010, ousting Russia for the top spot. The United States also ranks as the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas combined. Now, it is also the largest producer of oil and natural gas liquids.

Texas and North Dakota Oil Production The United States produced 8.4 million barrels per day of oil in April 2014—the highest monthly production volume in 27 years –with Texas and North Dakota accounting for nearly half of the total. Texas oil production reached over 3.0 million barrels per day for the first time since the late 1970s, more than doubling production in the past three years, and North Dakota production reached 1.0 million barrels per day for the first time in history, nearly tripling its production over the last 3 years. Combined crude oil production volumes from Texas and North Dakota reached 4.0 million barrels per day in April. From April 2010 to April 2014, crude oil production volumes in North Dakota and Texas grew at average annual rates of 37 percent and 28 percent, respectively, compared to 2 percent average annual growth for the rest of the United States. During this period, North Dakota and Texas’s combined share of total U.S. crude oil production rose from 26 percent to 48 percent.

By comparison, the Gulf of Mexico’s crude oil production share declined from 27 percent to 17 percent due to Obama Administration policies increasing the red tape for oil production on federal lands and waters. Gains in Texas crude oil production come primarily from unconventional tight oil and shale reservoirs in the Eagle Ford Shale in the Western Gulf Basin and the Permian Basin in West Texas. North Dakota’s increased oil production comes primarily from the Bakken shale formation in the Williston Basin. Since April 2011, the Eagle Ford has seen the largest monthly average increase in production exceeding 32,000 barrels per day, more than twice the 14,000 barrels per day increase in the Permian. Production from the Bakken increased 19,000 barrels per day on average each month over the same period. Source: Energy Information Administration, World Oil Prices Generally, the increased supply of shale oil in the United States would have resulted in lowering world oil prices; but global events in oil markets have restricted production in several oil-producing nations. Protests in Libya and oil theft in Nigeria have reduced global supply and violence in Iraq has led to concerns that oil production may be cut from the country in the future.

These events, among others, had raised the price of Brent crude, traded in London, to its highest daily level of the year of $115 a barrel on June 19th. It has since receded and EIA expects it to average less than $110 per barrel for the year. Increased U.S. oil production has resulted in balancing the supply gaps and keeping prices at a fairly constant level. However, West Texas Intermediate crude oil is expected to remain about $7 to $10 per barrel below that of Brent crude oil. Future Expectations According to the Bank of America, the United States is expected to hold its spot as the top “oil”-producing country this year because production in the second half of the year is expected to increase further. EIA in its latest Short Term Energy Outlook expects crude oil production in 2014 to average 8.46 million barrels per day and to increase to 9.28 million barrels per day in 2015 .[ii] That production will lower oil imports to a 22 percent share of consumption—the lowest share in 45 years. According to the IEA, U.S.

oil and natural gas liquids production will reach 13.1 million barrels per day by 2019 , a bit higher than EIA’s forecast of 12.28 million barrels per day in its Annual Energy Outlook 2014 .[iii] However, the IEA expects the United States to lose its top spot in global “oil” production in the 2030s with the Middle East re-emerging as a top force due to its abundant and low-cost resources.[iv] Conclusion The shale oil boom due to hydraulic fracturing and directional drilling has resulted in large volume gains in U.S. oil production on private and state lands where federal policies have little effect on output. That production has helped the United States regain its stature as the world’s largest oil and natural gas liquids producer in the world, overtaking Saudi Arabia and Russia. It is also expected to reduce our dependence on oil imports to 22 percent in 2015—the lowest level in 45 years. While that production has not resulted in lower world oil prices due to unrest in several oil-producing countries, it has had a stabilizing effect on those prices.

According to Francisco Blanch , the head of commodities research for the Bank of America, “The shale boom is playing a key role in the U.S. recovery. If the U.S. didn’t have this energy supply, prices at the pump would be completely unaffordable.”[v] [i] Energy Information Administration, North Dakota and Texas now provide nearly half of U.S. crude oil production, July 1, 2014, [ii] Energy Information Administration, Short Term Energy Outlook, July 8, 2014, [iii] Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2014, [iv] Bidness Etc, US Ahead of Saudi Arabia as Largest Oil Producer in the World, July 7, 2014, [v] Bloomberg, U.S. Seen as Largest Oil Producer after Overtaking Saudi Arabia, July 4, 2014, China poised to become the world’s largest net oil importer later this year - Today in Energy - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) China poised to become the world’s largest net oil importer later this year Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration Short-Term Energy Outlook, August 2013 .

Note: Net oil imports are defined as total liquid fuels consumption less domestic production. EIA's August 2013 Short-Term Energy Outlook ( STEO ) forecasts that China's net oil imports will exceed those of the United States by October 2013 on a monthly basis and by 2014 on an annual basis, making China the largest importer of oil in the world. The imminent emergence of China as the world's largest net oil importer has been driven by steady growth in Chinese demand, increased oil production in the United States, and a flat level of demand for oil in the U.S. market. U.S. total annual oil production is expected to rise by 28% between 2011 and 2014 to nearly 13 million barrels per day, primarily from shale oil, tight oil, and Gulf of Mexico deepwater plays. In the meantime, Chinese production increases at a much lower rate (6% over this period) and is forecast to be just a third of U.S. production in 2014.

On the demand side, China's liquid fuels use is expected to grow by 13% between 2011 and 2014 to more than 11 million barrels per day while U.S. demand hovers close to 18.7 million barrels per day, well below the peak U.S. consumption level of 20.8 million barrels per day in 2005. Looking beyond 2014 , higher U.S. oil production and stagnant or declining U.S. oil consumption, coupled with China's projected strong oil demand growth and slow oil production growth, suggest that once China replaces the United States as the world's largest net oil importer, the gap between net oil imports in China and the United States will grow. There are several different ways to measure oil import dependence. Discrepancies in the way dependence is assessed arise because oil is imported as crude oil but consumed as refined products, of which crude oil is the main but not only input.

Net oil imports reflect the broadest measure of liquid fuels and include the following elements in the volumes of oil liquids produced and used within national borders: crude oil, lease condensates, natural gas liquids, biofuels, other liquids, and refinery processing gain, which in the United States has been roughly 1 million barrels per day in recent years. Another common (and narrower) measure of oil import dependence is the ratio of net imported crude oil to net crude oil inputs to refineries. The United States has emerged as a significant net exporter of petroleum products in recent years and a portion of U.S. crude oil imports is used to produce products not consumed domestically. The advent of China as the world's largest importer based on the narrower measure occurs on a different schedule than for the broader one, but the basic trends and drivers remain the same as for the broader measure. However, imports of crude oil alone do not automatically imply domestic dependence on foreign supplies. U.S. surges past Saudis to become world's top oil supplier -PIRA | Reuters Tue Oct 15, 2013 | 2:36 PM EDT U.S.

surges past Saudis to become world's top oil supplier -PIRA Oct 15 The United States has overtaken Saudi Arabia to become the world's biggest oil producer as the jump in output from shale plays has led to the second biggest oil boom in history, according to leading U.S. energy consultancy PIRA. U.S. output, which includes natural gas liquids and biofuels, has swelled 3.2 million barrels per day (bpd) since 2009, the fastest expansion in production over a four-year period since a surge in Saudi Arabia's output from 1970-1974, PIRA said in a release on Tuesday. It was the latest milestone for the U.S. oil sector caused by the shale revolution, which has upended global oil trade. While still the largest consumer of fuel, the rise of cheap crude available to domestic refiners has turned the United States into a significant exporter of gasoline and distillate fuels. Last month, China surpassed the United States as the largest importer of crude, according to the U.S. government, as the rise of domestic output cuts the U.S. dependence on overseas oil.

"(The U.S.) growth rate is greater than the sum of the growth of the next nine fastest growing countries combined and has covered most of the world's net demand growth over the past two years," PIRA Energy Group wrote. "The U.S. position as the largest oil supplier in the world looks to be secure for many years," it added. Total liquids produced by the United States, which PIRA defined broadly to include supplies such as crude oil, condensate, natural gas liquids and biofuels, should average 12.1 million bpd in 2013, pushing it ahead of last year's No. 1 supplier, Saudi Arabia. Output from the OPEC state also rose last year, but the gains lagged those from the United States, the consultancy said. PIRA said the increase in oil from shale, which has been centered in areas such as Eagle Ford in Texas and the Bakken in North Dakota, has seen U.S. supply grow by 1 million bpd in 2012 and again 2013. The United States still lagged both Saudi Arabia and Russia in production of just crude oil by abut 3 million bpd, PIRA noted.

Rounding out the top 10 oil suppliers were China, Canada, UAE, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and Mexico. ADVERTISEMENT U.S. to Be Top Oil Producer by 2015 on Shale, IEA Says - Bloomberg Bloomberg the Company & Its Products Bloomberg Anywhere Remote LoginBloomberg Anywhere Login Bloomberg Terminal Demo Request Bloomberg Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the world. Customer Support Advertising Bloomberg Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the world. Customer Support U.S. to Be Top Oil Producer by 2015 on Shale, IEA Says Grant Smith The U.S. will surpass Russia and Saudi Arabia as the world’s top oil producer by 2015, and be close to energy self-sufficiency in the next two decades, amid booming output from shale formations, the IEA said. The most important business stories of the day. Get Bloomberg's daily newsletter. The latest political news, analysis, charts, and dispatches from Washington.

You will now receive the Politics newsletter Markets The most important market news of the day. So you can sleep an extra five minutes. You will now receive the Markets newsletter Technology Insights into what you'll be paying for, downloading and plugging in tomorrow and 10 years from now. You will now receive the Technology newsletter Pursuits What to eat, drink, wear and drive – in real life and your dreams. You will now receive the Pursuits newsletter Game Plan The school, work and life hacks you need to get ahead. You will now receive the Game Plan newsletter Crude prices will advance to $128 a barrel by 2035 with a 16 percent increase in consumption supporting the development of so-called tight oil in the U.S. and a tripling in output from Brazil, the International Energy Agency said today in its annual World Energy Outlook. The role of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will recover in the middle of the next decade as other nations struggle to repeat North America’s success with exploiting shale deposits, the agency predicted. “As production goes up and imports go down, it does have positive macroeconomic effects for the U.S.,” said Mike Wittner, head of oil research at Societe Generale SA in New York.

“It’s good for the balance of payments, good for the dollar, good for jobs, for other heavy industries. But it doesn’t equate to being insulated from world oil markets.” Soaring shale output in the U.S. is helping the world’s largest oil consumer achieve its highest level of energy independence in two decades, cushioning it against disruptions in Africa and the Middle East. The boom threatens revenues for OPEC’s 12 members, whose production is at its lowest in two years amid political unrest in Libya and theft in Nigeria. Biggest Producer U.S. oil production will rise to 11.6 million barrels a day in 2020, from 9.2 million in 2012, as it taps rock and shale layers in North Dakota and Texas with the use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, according to the IEA, a Paris-based adviser to 28 energy-consuming nations. The report didn’t specify an output level for 2015. Over the same time period, Saudi Arabian production will fall to 10.6 million from 11.7 million and Russia slips to 10.4 million from 10.7 million barrels.

The figures include natural gas liquids, condensates and crude. U.S. output will plateau after 2020 and the nation will lose its top ranking at the start of the 2030s, the IEA said. “We do not expect this trend will continue after 2020s,” Fatih Birol, the agency’s chief economist, said in London today. “It will come to a plateau and decline as a result of the limited resource base of light tight oil.” WTI Prices U.S. crude production rose to 7.896 million barrels a day in the week ended Oct. 18, the most since March 1989, according to the Energy Information Administration. West Texas Intermediate futures dropped as much as 83 cents to $94.31 a barrel in trading today on the New York Mercantile Exchange and were $94.58 as of 4:11 p.m. in London. Global oil demand will expand by 14 million barrels to average 101 million a day in 2035, according to the IEA report.

The share of conventional crude will drop to 65 million barrels by the end of the period because of growth in unconventional supplies, the IEA said without providing current data. The concentration in global oil trade will continue to shift to the Asia-Pacific region from the Atlantic Basin, as China is on the verge of becoming the world’s biggest oil importer, the report showed. India will displace China as the biggest driver of energy demand growth after 2020, the IEA said. Refinery Closures Expanding refinery capacity in Asia and the Middle East along with reduced demand in many developed nations is intensifying the pressure for plants to close, the agency said. The IEA estimates that almost 10 million barrels a day of oil processing capacity is “at risk” by 2035, with refineries in Europe in particular the most vulnerable, it said. This equates to about 10 percent of current global capacity, based on data compiled by Bloomberg on more than 700 sites worldwide.

Brazil will triple output to 6 million barrels a day by 2035 as it exploits deep-water reserves, an expansion that will account for one-third of the increase in global production and make the nation the world’s sixth-largest oil producer, according to the agency. While North American shale, coupled with rising production in Brazil and global supplies of natural gas liquids, will dominate output growth over the next 10 years, OPEC, and its Middle Eastern members in particular, will regain importance after that as supplies from outside the organization falter, according to the report. OPEC pumps about 40 percent of global oil supplies. Not Stirred “The U.S. moves steadily towards meeting all of its energy needs from domestic resources by 2035,” the IEA said. “But this does not mean that the world is on the cusp of a new era of oil abundance. Light, tight oil shakes the next 10 years, but leaves the longer term unstirred.

The Middle East, the only large source of low-cost oil, remains at the center of the longer-term outlook.” OPEC’s members are Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. It will next meet to review production targets on Dec. 4 in Vienna. More than half of the 790 billion barrels the world will need to produce by 2035 is needed to compensate for declining output from mature deposits, the agency said. Output declines at a rate of 6 percent a year at conventional oil fields once they reach peak production, according to the report. Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal.

Transport challenges | Tank Fleets content from Bulk Transporter Transload Directory Advertisement Home > Fleet Management > Tank Fleets > With the United States projected to become world's largest oil producer by 2020, logistics and infrastructure remain critical concerns With the United States projected to become world's largest oil producer by 2020, logistics and infrastructure remain critical concerns With the United States projected to become world's largest oil producer by 2020, logistics and infrastructure remain critical concerns Jan 1, 2013 Charles Wilson | Bulk Transporter Thanks to Fracking, U.S. Will Pass Saudi Arabia In Oil Production Thanks to Fracking, U.S. Will Pass Saudi Arabia In Oil Production Email Thanks to the success of U.S. oil companies engaged in hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” — a process used to extract oil trapped in shale formations — the United States will soon pass Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer. Both Saudi Arabia and the United States passed Russia for the top spot in recent years. The Economist reported on February 15 that U.S.

oil production reached a peak of 9.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in 1970, then declined to less than five million bpd in 2008. About that time, independent oil producers began adapting the new technologies of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) and horizontal drilling (which had previously been used to tap natural gas found in shale) to reach shale oil. Since fracking was introduced, U.S. oil production has risen to 7.4 million bpd and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicts that U.S. production will return to 1970 levels by 2019. The International Energy Agency has issued projections that the United States will displace Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer by 2015. By 2020, notes a report in Investing Daily , the United States will produce 11.6 million barrels a day. During the same period, Saudi Arabia’s output is expected to fall from 11.7 million bpd to 10.6 million bpd.

In “America’s Energy Edge,” an essay in the March/April issue of Foreign Affairs (the journal of the Council on Foreign Relations), Robert D. Blackwiil and Meghan L. O’Sullivan noted that during the past five years U.S. energy producers have taken advantage of two new technologies: “horizontal drilling, which allows wells to penetrate bands of shale deep underground, and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which uses the injection of high-pressure fluid to release gas and oil from rock formations.” Blackwill and O’Sullivan continue: The resulting uptick in energy production has been dramatic. Between 2007 and 2012, U.S. shale gas production rose by over 50 percent each year, and its share of total U.S. gas production jumped from five percent to 39 percent.... Between 2007 and 2012, fracking also generated an 18-fold increase in U.S. production of what is known as light tight oil, high-quality petroleum found in shale or sandstone that can be released by fracking. This boom has succeeded in reversing the long decline in U.S.

crude oil production, which grew by 50 percent between 2008 and 2013. Thanks to these developments, the United States is now poised to become an energy superpower. At the heart of this story is a technique that has been used so successfully to increase U.S. oil production: fracking, the popular term for what scientists call hydraulic fracturing. Basically, hydraulic fracturing is the fracturing of rock — in this case shale containing oil — by a pressurized liquid. Water mixed with sand and chemicals is injected at high pressure into a borehole, producing small fractures in the shale, allowing natural gas or oil to seep into the well, from which it is extracted.

As was noted in a biographical sketch about George Mitchell (who pioneered fracking) posted by The New American last July 29, fracking is being used to access natural gas and oil in the Marcellus (New York and Pennsyvania), Haynesville (Arkansas, Louisiana, and East Texas), Barnett (North Texas and Oklahoma), and Utica (New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, Tennessee, Virginia, and Ontario and Quebec in Canada) shale beds, along with the Bakken Formation in North Dakota. Fracking technology has increased production so much that it has made North Dakota into one of the most prosperous states in the union. But it is mainly the increased production in North Dakota and Texas that will enable the United states to displace Saudi Arabia as the world’s top oil producer. As of 2013, the Bakken formation produced more than 10 percent of all U.S. oil. In November 2013, the U.S. Energy Information Administration projected that Bakken production in North Dakota and Montana would exceed one million barrels per day in December 2013, making North Dakota the second largest oil-producing state in the United States, behind Texas.

Britain’s Independent newspaper reported on March 12 that Texas is currently producing three million barrels of oil a day, “most of it from fracking in two huge shale fields.” The article notes that by next year, Texas oil production will rise to four million barrels per day, more than the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, and Iran. If Texas were a nation, notes the writer, it would already be the ninth largest oil producer in the world. The success of the oil boom resulting from fracking is not without its usual critics among environmentalists, however. A leading anti-fracking measure is in the works in Colorado. In January 2014, the Colorado Community Rights Network (CCRN) submitted ballot language for a proposed amendment to Colorado’s constitution that would give municipalities the right to ban or regulate fracking and any other industrial activity — such as factory farming and hazardous waste disposal — within their borders. If the language is approved by the secretary of state, the group will collect signatures to get the measure on the fall ballot. The amendment really highlights two separate issues. First, local rule, which even the most conservative constitutionalists tend to regard as a good thing.

The other consideration, however, is that the target of this home rule is a private enterprise sure to benefit Colorado’s economy. Simply because an action is constitutional does not always mean it is wise or well-motivated. Energy producers in Colorado are confident that the anti-fracking measure will fail, however. When Reuters News asked Jack Ekstrom, a Whiting Petroleum Company executive and incoming chair of the Western Energy Alliance, an industry advocacy group, if his company planned to fight back he replied, “Are we willing to fight? You bet we are. If you ask me if I’m concerned, the answer is no. Our intent is to grow here, not shrink.” Another oil industry advocate interviewed by Reuters, Tisha Conoly Schuller, president of the Colorado Oil & Gas Association, a group that is challenging local fracking bans, said, “We’re confident that common sense and economic certainty is going to prevail in the end. That’s why you don’t see (energy) companies changing their investment strategy in Colorado.” Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, a Democrat who will run for reelection this November, is expected to talk about the ballot measure at this week’s IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston, an annual meeting of global energy leaders.

While he has not indicated how he stands on the measure, the venue suggests that he will not take a position opposed to the energy industry hosting the event. And since Hickenlooper worked as a geologist for Buckhorn Petroleum in the early 1980s, he does have a background in the oil industry. The U.S. oil industry has responded with many innovative techniques to provide for America’s energy needs, including building the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, building offshore drilling platforms, and using fracking to vastly increase oil production. Each of these methods has come under heavy attack by the more extreme segments of the environmental lobby. While every individual with common sense wants to protect our environment from harmful effects, shutting down energy is not necessary to protect the environment. Our free enterprise system provides both the incentive and the know-how to create affordable, plentiful energy that is environmentally friendly. Photo of fracking equipment in the Bakken oil field Related articles: "Saudi Texas" Is Changing the World's Economic and Political Landscape Please review our Comment Policy before posting a comment Thank you for joining the discussion at The New American. We value our readers and encourage their participation, but in order to ensure a positive experience for our readership, we have a few guidelines for commenting on articles.

If your post does not follow our policy, it will be deleted. No profanity, racial slurs, direct threats, or threatening language. No product advertisements. Please post comments in English. Please keep your comments on topic with the article. If you wish to comment on another subject, you may search for a relevant article and join or start a discussion there. US surpasses Russia as world's top oil and natural gas producer | Business | The Guardian Oil US surpasses Russia as world's top oil and natural gas producer New drilling techniques extract oil and gas from US shale rock formations, putting the country's output at 25m barrels per day Crewmen lean into the job of welding a new gas pipeline near Watford City, North Dakota. Photograph: Matthew Staver/Getty Images Friday 4 October 2013 16.13 EDT First published on Friday 4 October 2013 16.13 EDT Close This article is 3 years old The US was on pace to achieve global energy domination on Friday, overtaking Russia and Saudi Arabia as the world's top oil and natural gas producer.

New estimates released on Friday by the Energy Information Administration showed America pulling ahead of both countries in oil and natural gas production for 2013. The rise to the top was fuelled by new drilling techniques, such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, which have unlocked vast quantities of oil and gas from shale rock formations – especially in North Dakota and Texas . America was on track to produce just under 25m barrels a day of oil, natural gas and related fuels, the EIA said. Russia was just under 22m barrels a day. America had already surpassed Russia in natural gas production last year, pulling ahead for the first time since 1982. But this was the first year the US was on pace to surpass Russia in production of both oil and natural gas. "Total petroleum and natural gas hydrocarbon production estimates for the United States and Russia for 2011 and 2012 were roughly equivalent — within 1 quadrillion Btu of one another," the EIA said. "In 2013, however, the production estimates widen out, with the United States expected to outproduce Russia by five quadrillion Btu," the agency said.

Most of the new oil was coming from the western states. Oil production in Texas has more than doubled since 2010. In North Dakota, it has tripled, and Oklahoma, New Mexico, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah have also shown steep rises in oil production over the same three years, according to EIA data. But the EIA said the new natural gas production was coming from across the eastern United States. Russia is believed to hold one of the world's largest oil-bearing shale formations. But the industry has lagged behind America in its embrace of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to get at the oil and gas. Meanwhile, energy firms are stepping up production from North Dakota and Texas. Earlier reports from the EIA suggests the trend will continue. The EIA said earlier that US crude oil production rose to an average of 7.6m barrels a day in August, the highest monthly totals since 1989. It forecast total oil production would average 7.5m barrels a day throughout the year, rising to 8.4m barrels a day in 2014.

Question: What country is projected to become the world's largest oil producer in the year 2014?
Answer: United States