U.S. Oil Fields Stage “Great Revival,” But No Easing Gas Prices
The shale boom centered in North Dakota lifts U.S. oil production, but the unexpected resurgence won’t lessen petroleum’s cost.
U.S. oil fields yielded an estimated 5.68 million barrels per day in 2011—their highest output since 2003, thanks largely to a surge of new production from shale oil that lies beneath the Great Plains. The rush so far is centered in North Dakota, where oil production has quadrupled since 2005, but drilling is set to spread across the prairie and beyond.
(Related: "Shale Oil Boom Takes Hold on the Plains")
"A 'great revival' in U.S. oil production is taking shape," said Jim Burkhard, managing director of the energy consultancy IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates in testimony last month before a U.S. Senate committee. The resurgence provides the United States a welcome measure of energy security at a time of
