American oil
Jun 27th 2012, 14:14 by R.A. | WASHINGTON
FOR decades, American politicians have bemoaned their economy's
dependence on foreign oil and failed utterly at doing anything about it.
Now, two key developments—soaring prices and new technologies—are
beginning to accomplish what politicians couldn't. Consider two charts.
First, from the Energy Information Administration's Annual Energy Outlook:
And second, from an interesting new report from Harvard researcher Leonardo Maugeri:
American oil consumption fell from 2005 to 2010 as a
result of spiking prices and recession, and it is projected to do little
more than return, very slowly, to the pre-recession peak over the next
two decades. Meanwhile, America's shale oil boom is turning the country
into one of the world's dominant energy producers (with Canada rapidly
assuming a position just behind). An enormous share of the world's oil
may soon be produced in North America, in other words, potentially
altering the economics and politics of oil in dramatic ways.
