US Oil Production Booming - East Idaho News
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US Oil Production Booming

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GETTY W 040412 OilBarrels?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1351070746408Comstock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — A boom in domestic oil production over the past four years has enabled the U.S. to move up to second place behind Saudi Arabia in the list of the world’s leading oil producers and it likely won’t be long before America takes the top spot.

Currently, the U.S. pumps close to 11 million barrels of oil a day, which sounds impressive until you realize that the country uses 17 million barrels daily, meaning importing petroleum will be a necessity for some time to come.

However, high prices and innovative drilling methods are giving the U.S. a leg up on the rest of the world and by 2020, the daily output could be around 13 million to 15 million barrels per day.

This has deeper repercussions than just relying less on foreign sources.  It also means that the economies of oil-producing states will grow exponentially since an estimated 1.3 million jobs will be created, adding to the 1.7 million that already exist in the U.S.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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