New data from the Energy Information Administration released today show world tight oil production could more than double by 2040. This would mean an increase from 4.98 million to 10.36 million barrels per day, according to EIA’s International and Annual Energy Outlooks for 2016. Tight oil is the term for a lighter grade of crude oil typically found in shale deposits.
Even more encouraging than the global increase itself is the fact that a vast majority of the increase is expected to come from the United States, with Argentina, Russia and Canada chipping in as well. The report explained that US tight oil production has proven more resilient to low oil prices than many analysts anticipated, laying a strong foundation for continued growth in coming decades.
EIA estimated that US tight oil production would reach 7.1 barrels per day, nearly 75 percent of global production. EIA’s report follows a similar conclusion it made in June regarding natural shale gas, saying production was expected to increase in coming years. Together, shale and tight gas production in the US is expected to hit 29 trillion cubic feet by 2020, according to EIA. That will be around 70 percent of all natural gas production in the country.
Thanks to fracking, shale natural gas has helped boost US energy production to new levels. According to EIA, the United States is now the leading producer of oil and natural gas and continues to develop energy exportation capacity. Americans will be happy to know that as oil production continues to develop, the United States can look forward to energy security not only for a few years, but for decades.