By 2017, the US Will Be the World's Largest Oil Producer

According to a new report made public by the International Energy Agency only yesterday, it will take about 5 years before the US gives Saudi Arabia and Russia a run for their money and becomes the world's largest oil producer.

Furthermore, it is quite likely that by the year 2030, North America will have become a net oil exporter, and that the year 2035 will witness the US's standing on the brink of self-sufficiency energy-wise.

As far as the International Energy Agency is concerned, the US energy industry is to experience this extreme makeover thanks to several scientific breakthroughs that will allow it to access energy resources which up until now have remained out of its reach.

“The global energy map is changing, with potentially far-reaching consequences for energy markets and trade,” said report reads.

Furthermore, “It is being redrawn by the resurgence in oil and gas production in the United States and could be further reshaped by a retreat from nuclear power in some countries, continued rapid growth in the use of wind and solar technologies and by the global spread of unconventional gas production.”

Naturally, these changes in the make-up of the global energy market will impact on several other countries and not just on Russia and Saudi Arabia, provided, of course, that the US will see fit to reconsider some of its international trading policies.

Mongabay quotes the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, Maria van der Hoeven, who made a case of how, “North America is at the forefront of a sweeping transformation in oil and gas production that will affect all regions of the world, yet the potential also exists for a similarly transformative shift in global energy efficiency.”

The report also estimates that, given the predicted population growth and expansion of urban areas, it is quite likely that global energy demands will up by 35%-46%.

Apparently, China's, India's and the Middle East's developing working class will be the first to place increased strain on global energy production.