There’s a great interview with Daniel Yergin in today’s Wall Street Journal: Making Sense of the U.S. Oil Boom.
He puts the current boom into good perspective. During the last presidential election, we were talking about running out of oil. This time around, we are discussing how close the U.S. can get to energy independence.
He mentions the jobs impact:
Over one million jobs have been created by the development of unconventional gas. It makes the U.S. more competitive.
The article has three great graphs that show the dramatic change in domestic production, big increase in operating rigs, and the decline in imports.
What turned around U.S. production?
The main thing here is the new ability to use in oil fields technologies that were developed for shale gas. It’s technology and entrepreneurship, initiative, people having different ideas and acting on them.
Doncha’ love human ingenuity?
The interviewer, Mr. Angel Gonzalez, refers to critics who say the potential from shale is exaggerated.
I’m guessing that would be the peak oil crowd.
Mr. Yergin’s response:
The proof is in the numbers. Shale gas (2% of U.S. gas production at the start of the century) is now almost 40% of U.S. gas production. And using this technology in new areas and established oil fields has really revitalized U.S. oil production.
Check out the full interview. It’s great.