PIRA, a leader in worldwide energy market analysis, has recently announced that the US has finally surpassed Saudi Arabia as the largest oil producer in the world, after an explosion in the use of hydraulic fracking created the largest oil boom in nearly 40 years, only beaten by the production boom in Saudi Arabia between 1970 and 1974.
The US remains the largest consumer of crude oil and liquid fuels in the world, but the plethora of cheap oil being produced domestically, of which total output has grown by 3.2 million barrels a day since 2009, has actually allowed it to begin exporting gasoline and other distilled fuels.
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PIRA remarked that the US "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."
The constant development of the shale industry, and the vast resources buried in shale formations, mean that "the US position as the largest oil supplier in the world looks to be secure for many years."
PIRA said that the US total liquids production, including crude oil, condensate, natural gas liquids, and biofuels, will average about 12.1 million barrels a day this year, more than the previous top producer, Saudi Arabia.
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Expansions in giant shale formations such as the Eagle Ford in Texas and the Bakken in North Dakota, have boosted US production output by 1 million barrels a day in 2012, and again in 2013. Saudi Arabia also managed to boost its output, but not quite to the same extent.
PIRA also pointed out that whilst total liquids production is the highest in the world, the US still produces around 3 million fewer barrels of crude oil each day than Russia or Saudi Arabia.
By. James Burgess of Oilprice.com
James Burgess studied Business Management at the University of Nottingham. He has worked in property development, chartered surveying, marketing, law, and accounts. He has also… More
Comments
Because the technology has slowly evolved since the 1970's, the economics behind the benefit gained from extraction were positive, prices high,....the Majors were late players, entrants into this, this was started by smaller players, who have been doing this for a while, because they could assemble land-owners, slowly, and for a long time, pay them a fee, and then a percentage of the profits,....in America, unlike in most places, most landowners, own the land and what is underground, what is underground is owned by the landowner, unless when you buy the land, it is stipulated in the contract, that someone else owns the mineral rights, and in that case you would be buying cheaper land, than what it would cost, if you bought the mineral rights with it.
Just to let you know, if and when they develop the technology more, the US could have the largest reserves in the world, from even harder, and more expensive to extract, oil resources. there was nothing hidden here. Only thing was, you and most people didn't know. When we don't know, and something surprises us, we often find a conspiracy. But then as to US oil industry, found in US, largest producer, and exporter for a long time, and never as reliant on Middle Eastern oil as Europe or Asia.
So... the main question which arises from PIRA points in the Context, is, why now? Is it the US politics? US companies were the entrepreneur of oil detection in the worldwide. but they discover huge oil source in their country's soil, NOW!!!.