U.S. to Become World’s Top Energy Producer

The International Energy Agency (IEA) yesterday released its annual World Energy Outlook, outlining a dramatic shift in global energy markets driven by increased oil and gas production in the United States. According to IEA, “North America is at the forefront of a sweeping transformation in oil and gas production that will affect all regions of the world.”

The report forecasts the U.S. will become the world’s largest oil producer before 2020. While the U.S. currently imports approximately half the petroleum fuel it consumes, IEA predicts the U.S will become “all but self-sufficient” by 2035.

New energy discoveries and technological advances have spurred an energy renaissance in the United States and put the goal of North American energy independence within reach. Defying previous notions that the U.S was running out of energy supplies, we are now well on our way toward energy security. But to reach this goal, we must have the right policies in place. House Republicans are committed to advancing a pro-energy, pro-growth agenda that will ensure North American energy independence becomes a reality.  

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U.S. to overtake Saudi as top oil producer: IEA
Reuters
November 12, 2012

(Reuters) - The United States will overtake Saudi Arabia and Russia as the world's top oil producer by 2017, the West's energy agency said on Monday, predicting Washington will come very close to achieving a previously unthinkable energy self-sufficiency.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said it saw a continued fall in U.S. oil imports with North America becoming a net oil exporter by around 2030 and the United States becoming almost self-sufficient in energy by 2035.

"The United States, which currently imports around 20 percent 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," it said.

The forecasts by the IEA, which advises large industrialized nations on energy policy, were in sharp contrast to its previous reports, which saw Saudi Arabia remaining the top producer until 2035.

"Energy developments in the United States are profound and their effect will be felt well beyond North America - and the energy sector," the IEA said in the annual long-term report, giving one of the most optimistic forecasts for U.S. energy production growth to date.

"The recent rebound in U.S. oil and gas production, driven by upstream technologies that are unlocking light tight oil and shale gas resources, is spurring economic activity - with less expensive gas and electricity prices giving industry a competitive edge," it added.

IEA Chief Economist Fatih Birol told a news conference in London he believed the United States would overtake Russia as the biggest gas producer by a significant margin by 2015. By 2017, it would become the world's largest oil producer, he said.

This could have significant geopolitical implications, if Washington feels its strategic interests are no longer as embedded in the Middle East and other volatile oil producing regions. ….

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