trending Market Intelligence /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/xC7U6ZVQBP1wol2IcHfdmQ2 content esgSubNav
In This List

Analyst sees US reaching oil self-sufficiency, slow decline for fossil fuels

Podcast

Next in Tech | Episode 49: Carbon reduction in cloud

Blog

Using ESG Analysis to Support a Sustainable Future

Research

US utility commissioners: Who they are and how they impact regulation

Blog

Q&A: Datacenters: Energy Hogs or Sustainability Helpers?


Analyst sees US reaching oil self-sufficiency, slow decline for fossil fuels

The U.S. is on the verge of oil self-sufficiency but not immune to outside supply shocks, a Rice University professor said Oct. 2 during a conference in Houston.

Mark Finley, a fellow in energy and global oil at the James A. Baker Institute's Center for Energy Studies, said the increase in U.S. oil and gas production spurred by the shale revolution is without precedent.

"The U.S. is now the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the world. In 2018, the U.S. saw the greatest increase in production of oil and natural gas of any country in the history of the world," he said. "The United States could be self-sufficient for oil as soon as next year."

As the U.S. moves away from oil imports, Finley said, the country is seeing economic benefits. Increased production has not only created new jobs, but strengthened the nation in the global marketplace.

"The strengthening of the dollar is at least in part due to the U.S. energy renaissance," he said.

Finley noted that while increasing pressure is being put on the industry and politicians to push for greater use of renewable energy sources, oil and natural gas will remain the primary elements of the world's energy mix for the next several decades. Even as renewables become more popular, the percentage of fossil fuels in the global energy mix has dropped just 2%, from 87% to 85%, over the past 20 years, he said.

"Many energy analysts expect renewables will continue to grow rapidly and gain market share. But history shows that these transitions take time," Finley said. "It took oil more than 40 years to get to more than 10% of the energy mix. ... Fossil fuels will be contributing the majority of energy in 2040, and that's a success scenario [for renewables]."

With oil and gas production remaining a necessity for decades to come, trillions of dollars will need to be invested in the sector while trillions more are put into renewable energy sources. Finley said governments and renewable energy producers will also have to follow in the footsteps of oil consumers by creating reserve supplies and security systems in place in the event of an attack or other kind of supply shortfall.

"We need to think about those security sources for the energy transition ... to minimize new potential vulnerabilities," he said.