Oil: US set to become a net exporter

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A steeper-than-expected rise in US shale oil reserves is about to change the global balance of power between new and existing producers, a report says.

Over the next five years, the US will account for a third of new oil supplies, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The US will change from the world's leading importer of oil to a net exporter.

Demand for oil from Middle-East oil producers is set to slow as a result.

"North America has set off a supply shock that is sending ripples throughout the world," said IEA executive director Maria van der Hoeven.

The surge in US production will reshape the whole industry, according to the IEA, which made the prediction in its closely-watched bi-annual report examining trends in oil supply and demand over the next five years.

The IEA said it expected the US to overtake Russia as the world's biggest gas producer by 2015 and to become "all but self-sufficient" in its energy needs by about 2035.

The rise in US production means the world's reliance on oil from traditional oil producing countries in the Middle East, which make up Opec (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries), would end soon, according to the report.

US shale oil supply shock shifts global power balance

Great stuff though I still prefer nuclear and hope for a Manhattan style project on fusion.

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A steeper-than-expected rise in US shale oil reserves is about to change the global balance of power between new and existing producers, a report says.

Over the next five years, the US will account for a third of new oil supplies, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The US will change from the world's leading importer of oil to a net exporter.

Demand for oil from Middle-East oil producers is set to slow as a result.

"North America has set off a supply shock that is sending ripples throughout the world," said IEA executive director Maria van der Hoeven.

The surge in US production will reshape the whole industry, according to the IEA, which made the prediction in its closely-watched bi-annual report examining trends in oil supply and demand over the next five years.

The IEA said it expected the US to overtake Russia as the world's biggest gas producer by 2015 and to become "all but self-sufficient" in its energy needs by about 2035.

The rise in US production means the world's reliance on oil from traditional oil producing countries in the Middle East, which make up Opec (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries), would end soon, according to the report.

US shale oil supply shock shifts global power balance

Great stuff though I still prefer nuclear and hope for a Manhattan style project on fusion.

That's great that we've found more natural resources (and there are certainly political benefits to be had by weakening our dependence on foreign oil), it probably won't help much when it comes to gas prices:

Energy Independence Wouldn't Make Gasoline Any Cheaper

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it probably won't help much when it comes to gas price

That's right. Most people don't understand that oil is a futures market and most don't even know what that is or understand it's implications or it's extreme importance. Futures market's are set up to encourage production.

For example, a farmer wants to plant a crop but there is no guarantee something will not happen to ruin the value of that crop; weather, insects, uncertainty in the market when the crop arrives, etc. So the crop is basically sold at a guaranteed price before it's ever grown to encourage the farmer, and other farmers, to take the risk.

And so it is with oil. There is no guarantee a well will strike oil. There is no guarantee how much oil will be available in a well. There is no guarantee that the supply of oil won't be so large that the price will be too low to make a profit or recoup operating expenses by the time the oil is shipped and refined. No guarantee war won't break out in the Middle East shutting down a large supply of oil. Etc. So in order to encourage companies to risk drilling and the the time it takes to bring the product to market, there is a futures market.