The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, is one of the world’s leaders in the production in oil, supplying about
40% of the world’s oil (DiLallo, 2014). According to Exxon Mobil Corporation, who is the largest energy company in regards to market value, stated that oil production in North America from shale fields should out-produce each member of OPEC by 2015. The surge in U.S. oil production came from developed
techniques in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing originally used to extract natural gas from shale in north Texas. (Carroll, 2013) From this shale boom America’s oil production is expected to increase to 9.6 million barrels of oil per day by 2016. [Editor's note: US annual consumption is about
7 billion barrels per year.] Companies such as ConocoPhillips and Marathon Oil are focusing more and more efforts to drill in America, both increasing large percentages of their spending in America. Marathon Oil should yield more than 25% more annual production growth by 2017 (DiLallo, 2014).
OPEC to me should begin to fear or at least worry about oil drilling in the shale fields in North America. While producing 40% of the world’s oil, they have a great influence as to how the market should react to changes in price for oil. However, companies spending large quantities in America could lead to not only increased GDP for the country through oil exports but also increase jobs through drilling and fracturing sites in Texas as well as Oklahoma (DiLallo, 2014). This would also go to lower oil prices in the market and lower gas prices around the country.
--Nicholas Bonomolo
