Boom and Bust

a shale-gas drilling and fracking operation, Pennsylvania      Jacques del Conte

So this is interesting. The United States just may be the world's largest oil producer by 2017, according to the International Energy Agency. Larger than Saudi Arabia? How can this be? You might well ask. The answer is, it has to do with all those alternative ways we're now using to get at it, like fracking, for example. That boom will last about 10 years, the agency goes on to say, and then the Middle East will again dominate: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/11/131112-iea-world-outlook-2013-six-key-trends/?source=hp_dl3_news-energy-future-trends_20131114