Last week, the American Petroleum Institute issued its annual report, the State of American Energy. The report is buoyant on the growth of America’s oil and natural gas industries:
Since 2008, America’s crude oil production has surged by 70 percent, rising from an average of 5 million barrels per day in 2008 to 8.6 million barrels per day in August 2014.14 At its current production rate, the United States is anticipated to surpass both Saudi Arabia and Russia, historically two top energy producers, to become the world’s largest producer of oil this year.
This increased production—the report adds—was a big jolt to the American economy:
The oil and natural gas industry contributed $1.2 trillion to U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2011, and at a time when other industries have been slow to add jobs in the wake of the recent recession, the oil industry supports 9.8 million jobs across the nation, up 600,000 from just two years earlier.
The report expects that U.S. energy demand will increase 12 percent by the year 2040, with petroleum continuing to play “a crucial role.” Click here to read the full report.