Report: U.S. Oil Production May Surpass Saudi Arabia and Russia in 2018

Breitbart:The latest report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) finds American oil production at its highest level in 50 years and projects that it will surpass that of Saudi Arabia and Russia in 2018.

“This year promises to be a record-setting one for the U.S.,” the IEA said, predicting “explosive” growth on tap for the American oil industry.

Bloomberg News notes a fascinating aspect of the coming U.S. oil boom: it is partly driven by measures OPEC put in place to deal with falling oil prices, which were driven down by a previous surge in American production and the resulting “oil glut.”

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) worked with Russia, an allied non-member, to cut production and reduce oil inventories so prices would climb. It was not easy to do, especially since Iran was eager to get back into the market after the lifting of sanctions against it, but OPEC finally managed to bring oil prices up to a three-year high, which evidently combined with the collapse of Venezuelan production to inspire even greater American production.

The IEA noted that American producers were also driven to cut costs and implement new efficiency measures during the recent oil price collapse, which will leave them better positioned to handle a new round of price drops as supply increases.

“The big 2018 supply story is unfolding fast in the Americas. Explosive growth in the U.S. and substantial gains in Canada and Brazil will far outweigh potentially steep declines in Venezuela and Mexico,” the IEA said, predicting that most of the 1.3 billion barrel per day expansion in global markets driven by a recovering world economy will go to OPEC’s rivals.  read more