IEA: US would become world’s largest oil producer by 2017

The International Energy Agency (IEA) in the second week of November 2012 announced that United States would takeover Saudi Arabia as world’s biggest oil producing nation by 2017. The forecast came up by the Paris based energy agency because U.S. has been drilling more crude oil by using the technology based on hydraulic fracturing of underground shale formations.

This drilling activity would make U.S. in times to come as an economy that is self-sufficient in terms of energy within next five years but down the line by 2023, North America would became a net oil exporter in the world. This forecast from the International Energy Agency is a change on its previous prediction in which the agency stated that Saudi’s would be the world’s leader in oil production up to 2035. At present U.S. imports about 20 percent of oil to meet its energy needs.