This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
The U.S. is on track to become the world's leading liquid petroleum producer. According to IEA, domestic production of oil was about 11.5m barrels a day in August, and the Financial Times reports that we are likely to surpass Saudi Arabia's production for the first time in 23 years.
In fact, we may also catch up to Saudi Arabia and Russia on crude production alone by 2020. Perhaps not surprising given production has already risen by over 60 percent during the past six years.
Oh how times have changed.
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Next year, imports to the U.S. will provide 21 percent of our liquid fuel consumption--remarkable considering imports provided 60 percent of liquid fuel consumption only 10 years ago. And that's good news given world events. Current unrest in the Middle East and Russia's intervention in Ukraine increase uncertainty in markets, so the boom in U.S. production has acted as a stabilizing force.
Crooks and Raval even suggest there may be an impact on global security, especially if lower imports lead to a reduced military commitment to the Middle East. But of course, that would take quite some time to occur. First the American public must get up to speed on the energy transition underway across the nation and around the world. And there's no doubt we have a long way to go...