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U.S. to become world's largest oil producer by 2020

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LONDON (CNNMoney) -- The United States will overtake Saudi Arabia to become the world's biggest oil producer before 2020, and will be energy independent 10 years later, according to a new forecast by the International Energy Agency.
The recent resurgence in oil and gas production, and efforts to make the transport sector more efficient, are radically reshaping the nation's energy market, reported Paris-based IEA in its World Energy Outlook.

North America would become a net exporter of oil around 2030, the global organization said Monday.
"The United States, which currently imports around 20% of its total energy needs, becomes all but self sufficient in net terms -- a dramatic reversal of the trend seen in most other energy importing countries," the IEA stated.
The U.S. is experiencing an oil boom, in large part thanks to high world prices and new technologies, including hydraulic fracking, that have made the extraction of oil and gas from shale rock commercially viable.
From 2008 to 2011, U.S. crude oil production jumped 14%, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Natural gas production is up by about 10% over the same period.
Related: the facts about oil and gas under Obama
According to the IEA, U.S. natural gas prices will rise to $5.5 per million British thermal units (MBtu) in 2020, from around $3.5 per MBtu this year, driven by rising domestic demand rather than a forecast increase in exports to Asia and other markets.
"In our projections, 93% of the natural gas produced in the United States remains available to meet domestic demand," it said. "Exports on the scale that we project would not play a large role in domestic price setting."
North America's new role in the world energy markets will accelerate a change in the direction of international oil trade toward Asia, and underscore the importance of securing supply routes from the Middle East to China and India.

The IEA said it expects global energy demand to increase by more than a third by 2035, with China, India and the Middle East accounting for 60% of the growth, and more than outweighing reduced demand in developed economies.
That will push world average oil import prices up to $125 per barrel (in 2011 dollars) by 2035, from around $100 per barrel at present, but they could be much higher if Iraq fails to deliver on its production potential.
Iraq is set to become the second largest oil exporter by the 2030s, as it expands output to take advantage of demand from fast growing Asian economies.
Related: Iraq oil output to double by 2020
New fuel economy standards in the U.S. and efforts by China, Japan and the European Union to reduce demand would help to make up for a disappointing decade for global energy efficiency.
"But even with these and other new policies in place, a significant share of the potential to improve energy efficiency -- four-fifths of the potential in the buildings sector and more than half in industry -- still remains untapped," the IEA stated.

Policymakers are still missing out on potential benefits for energy security, economic growth and the environment.

Growth in demand over the years to 2035 would be halved and oil demand would peak just before 2020, if governments took action to remove barriers preventing the implementation of energy efficiency measures that are already economically viable, the global organization said.

Source

Pretty encouraging (and rather odd) news for American businesses and economists. Energy independence is even better. Hopefully the oil we have now/will find will last.


Discuss?
 

Rodriguezjames55

No Jokes #MegaCharizard
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all this wars for oil make me sick
energy "independence" is a ploy to get us fighting six wars (Iraq yemen Libya Somalia Pakistan Afghanistan and soon to be iran accourding to the article Saudi Arabia ) i feel sick to be american when it comes to war
we dont need to fight these wars either we got Alaska and texas
 
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Do we even have enough oil to become the largest producer? I didnt think there was really that much in this country. Though even with this, we still ought to be looking into other energy sources as oil wont last forever, once it's gone, it's gone. I do find it good that we could obtain energy independence though, which we honestly need.
 

TRIFORCE89

Guide of Darkness
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I don't think the US will be the largest oil producer. But, ideally the North American continent will be energy independent. 'Cause hey we Canadians have oil.
 
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I don't think Johnny Polar Bear or Daryl Hannah will like this news. We need to stop using oil from the Middle East since there is never a period of time that I know of where they were fighting each other.

Besides oil, make more good use of wind power and solar power. But the whole Solyndra controversy might put a big dent in the panels of Solar power.
 
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Very interesting read indeed.

I've been hearing all this talk that the U.S. will end up losing its top spots, but with this, the future is bright. I'm hoping that it'll be enough to finally carve our way out of our debt.
 

TRIFORCE89

Guide of Darkness
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Besides oil, make more good use of wind power and solar power.
Indeed, but oil comes first. The infrastructure isn't there for renewables yet. We also can't store it and distribute it. It comes into the grid in bursts. It's also expensive.

The end goal should be renewables (and nuclear, I'd argue). But in the mean time we need energy independence as a stepping stone. If we can do it here, and then have it for cheap at that, we can slowly integrate more renewables into the system. There isn't a switch we can just throw and go "No more oil. Tomorrow we start with wind".

Like, the natural gas boom right isn't the greenest thing. It's not the ideal solution. But it's a heck of a lot cleaner than coal. And it's local. So, use it as an interim solution.
 
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I think instead of investing so much time and money on fossil fuels we need to look at renewable sources. I don't think that there is enough oil left underground to last us 2020 let alone 2030. Good luck scraping the barrel for that.
 
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Just imagine if we could use all the capital from the increased oil revenue to put towards alternative energy sources, so by 2020 we could be a world leader in that regard as well.
 

TRIFORCE89

Guide of Darkness
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Just imagine if we could use all the capital from the increased oil revenue to put towards alternative energy sources, so by 2020 we could be a world leader in that regard as well.
That would be ideal.

I think the recent natural gas boom is a good temporary stepping stone. Its cleaner and buys us time and cash flow to develop and ready alternative energy sources (and its byproducts - forms of distribution, adapting the grid, storage, etc.)
 
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Just imagine if we could use all the capital from the increased oil revenue to put towards alternative energy sources, so by 2020 we could be a world leader in that regard as well.

The US doesn't strike me as a 'look at all the extra money we made, let's invest it in clean energy!" kind of place at the moment. I guess it will all depend on who the president is by then.


I'm not really clear on what the article means by the US as 'producers' of fossil fuels. Are the oil reserves they are tapping on American soil? Does this include international wells that are being tapped? etc. Just all seems a bit vague when it comes to things other than money.

Which, at the end of the day, is why the US has such a fixation on fossil fuels - they make lots of money.
 
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The US doesn't strike me as a 'look at all the extra money we made, let's invest it in clean energy!" kind of place at the moment. I guess it will all depend on who the president is by then.

As long as we don't let the GOP have their way with things pertaining to the budget we should be plenty fine.
 
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