by John Timmer - Nov 13, 2012
If the IEA is right, by 2020, we'll produce more oil than Saudi Arabia.
Each year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) prepares a World Energy Outlook report that peeks ahead to 2035. The organization tries to predict the trends in energy generation and use that will get us there.
The reports are a mix of extrapolating current trends and predicting future ones. Although they often miss the mark, they also often provide a provocative look at the big picture of the energy economy, pointing out things that can be easy to miss when the focus tends to be on the day-to-day fluctuations in prices.
This year's was no exception. One of the key conclusions is that the US could reach energy self-sufficiency by 2020.
That doesn't mean we'll stop importing oil; rather, we'll be exporting so much coal and natural gas that it will offset our oil imports. Those imports will also be kept in check by a combination of increased fuel efficiency and expanded extraction within the US.
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