This startling prediction was one of several revealed at the petroleum producer’s recent 2017 Energy Outlook:

“By 2023, the U.S. will achieve true energy self-sufficiency.”

       —Spencer Dale, Chief Economist, BP

 BP’s latest projections are based on a number of trends that will only gain strength in the coming years. The pace of American production will establish the U.S. as the world’s third-largest natural gas exporter by the end of this year. And by 2020 natural gas will emerge as the primary fuel for power generation in the U.S.

Increases in natural gas production will keep the U.S. at the top of natural gas exporting countries, producing 25 percent of the global supply of natural gas and 70 percent of shale gas supplies. These impressive increases in production coincide with growing demand from fast-growing markets such as Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Shale gas production is predicted to increase by more than 40 billion cubic feet per day by 2035. And nearly half of that will be sold on global Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) markets.

BP’s report confirms that America will likely achieve energy independence much sooner than was once anticipated. And that’s particularly exciting for oil and natural gas producing states like Oklahoma where increases in production means more jobs, rising demand for skilled workers, higher tax revenue, and other direct economic impacts on the communities.

Read the full write-up from Energy in Depth here or explore the full 2017 Energy Outlook report from BP here.

 

EnergyHQ is powered by the Oklahoma Energy Resources Board – OERB – which is voluntarily funded by the state's oil and natural gas producers and royalty owners. The OERB provides free environmental restoration of abandoned well sites and works to educate the state's citizens about the oil and natural gas industry. For more on the OERB's mission and how it is funded, visit OERB.com.