US Oil Boom: Soon to Be Top Producer?
From ABC News
By Richard Davies
America’s oil boom is surging so fast the US could soon overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest producer. Driven by high prices and new drilling methods, US production of crude and other liquid hydrocarbons is on track to rise 7 percent this year. This will be the fourth straight year of crude increases and the biggest single-year gain since 1951. The Energy Department forecasts production of crude and other liquid hydrocarbons, which includes biofuels, will average 11.4 million barrels per day next year. That would be just shy of the amount Saudi Arabia produces. “We’ve been a long time net importer of crude oil by a large amount,” says Ben Brockwell of the Oil Price Information Service. “There are expert analysts who predict that within the next five years, the U-S could be an exporter of crude oil.”
What are the industries with the most new jobs? A new survey today says while the labor market continues to improve slowly, several sectors and parts of the country have been booming in the past three years. “Drilling crude petroleum, natural gas extraction, natural gas production: all those are up well over 20 percent,” says Jennifer Grasz of CareerBuilder. Its report finds the internet has directly created a lot of jobs “Electronic shopping that’s up 23 percent. Internet publishing and broadcasting up 30 percent.” Other hot areas for job creation include health care, transportation and manufacturing. “And so you see machine shops coming back, and also you see those other industries tied to it,” says Grasz. “Specialized freight trucking – those jobs are coming back as well.”
