Move over, Russia — and Saudi Arabia, too: The United States is now the world’s largest producer of crude oil.
“US crude-oil production exceeded that of Saudi Arabia for the first time in more than two decades,” the US Energy Information Administration reported Tuesday. “In June and August, the United States surpassed Russia in crude-oil production for the first time since February 1999.”
That assessment confirms an International Energy Agency prediction in March that America would soon be No. 1, and it should keep that slot through 2019, at least.
Thanks to the fracking boom, US oil production has topped more than 10 million barrels per day this year — a first since the 1970s, Reuters reported.
The EIA expects US crude production to hit 11.5 million bpd next year, with growth likely leveling off as the increase in global demand slows.
Also thanks to fracking, US natural-gas production is similarly set to hit an all-time high this year: 80.96 billion cubic feet per day, up from 73.55 billion in 2017.
The energy boom, and the lower costs it means for manufacturing and other sectors, is a vital part of the overall US economic surge.