A study by U.K.-based energy company; British Petroleum Global reveals that U.S. will become 99 percent energy self-sufficient by 2030 due to an increase in shale oil and gas output and slowing demand.
In 2005, the U.S. was only 70 percent self-sufficient and the country was one of the largest global oil importers.
"The U.S. will not be increasingly dependent on energy imports, with energy set to reinvigorate its economy. And China and India are expected to need a lot more imports to keep growing," Bob Dudley, BP Group chief executive, said.
Although shale gas and oil resources exist around the world, extensive exploitation of the resources has so far taken place only in North America. Production of oil and gas from unconventional sources will dictate global energy markets in coming years.
"Vast unconventional reserves have been unlocked in the US, with oil production following gas," BP Group chief economist Christof Rühl said. "This delivery has been made possible not only by the resources and technology, but also by 'above-ground' factors such as a strong and competitive service sector, land access facilitated by private ownership, liquid markets and favourable regulatory terms."
Rühl said that apart from U.S., no other country, to date, has yet succeeded in combining these factors to support production growth. Even if the other countries do succeed in producing shale oil and gas, U.S. is still expected to contribute larger amounts of shale resources.
Shale gas and oil is extracted from low-pressure fractures in the ground. These unconventional oil sources - shale oil, tar sands and biofuels require large amounts of energy and water, resulting in serious environmental damages.
Falling gas prices in U.S. have encouraged shale companies to explore shale oil as well as gas. The success of unearthing shale resources has, therefore, prompted other countries to follow.
"Significant progress in energy efficiency and fuel economy has resulted in declining oil and gasoline demand in recent years and will become "a great catalyst here," Chris Faulkner, CEO of Dallas-based Breitling Oil and Gas told US News.
Faulkner said that if America continues down the road of energy efficiency, the country won't be the biggest consumer of oil here in the next two years and with domestic production surging, U.S. will be a net exporter of crude.
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