The U.S. Is Now A Bigger Oil Producer Than Saudi Arabia (For Now)

Oil pumps stand at the Chevron Corp. Kern River oil field in Bakersfield, California. Photographer: Ken James/Bloomberg

U.S. Seen As Biggest Oil Producer After Overtaking Saudi Arabia -- Bloomberg

The U.S. will remain the world’s biggest oil producer this year after overtaking Saudi Arabia and Russia as extraction of energy from shale rock spurs the nation’s economic recovery, Bank of America Corp. said.

U.S. production of crude oil, along with liquids separated from natural gas, surpassed all other countries this year with daily output exceeding 11 million barrels in the first quarter, the bank said in a report today. The country became the world’s largest natural gas producer in 2010. The International Energy Agency said in June that the U.S. was the biggest producer of oil and natural gas liquids.

“The U.S. increase in supply is a very meaningful chunk of oil,” Francisco Blanch, the bank’s head of commodities research, said by phone from New York. “The shale boom is playing a key role in the U.S. recovery. If the U.S. didn’t have this energy supply, prices at the pump would be completely unaffordable.”

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My Comment: The U.S. is lucky that they are having this independent oil boom .... if not .... the U.S. trade deficit with the rest of the world will be through the roof.