The United States is in the midst of an energy revolution.
Oil production has risen by 5 million barrels per day (bpd) since 2010, an increase of nearly 100 percent. New technology, particularly techniques in shale oil drilling, has opened up vast new opportunities for oil and gas companies.
The proof is in the numbers. In 2017, the United States averaged 9.3 million bpd. This year, the EIA predicts that U.S. oil and gas production will reach record levels, averaging 10.3 million barrels bpd to surpass the record reached in 1970 (9.6 million bpd).
In 2019, the EIA expects U.S. production to average 10.8 million bpd, which will allow the U.S. to rival Saudi Arabia and Russia as the world's largest oil producer.
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If there's one big reason for the U.S. energy revolution, it's that new technology has allowed American companies to beat the competition.
Thanks to such innovation, a barrel of oil produced in the U.S. can cost as little as $20 to produce.
Not even OPEC could stop the host of American shale drillers, who persevered through a global production glut and historically low prices from 2015 to 2017, and who have now emerged victorious.
But the shale revolution is starting to reach its limits. With shale production likely to peak shortly after 2020, investors are looking for new, innovative technologies that will break new barriers to output.
Companies like Petroteq Energy Inc. are pioneering new approaches to energy extraction. While OPEC producers stick to the tried-and-true methods, American companies are exploring new horizons, watching production costs fall and profits shoot through the stratosphere.
A key area where advancements will be made is in oil sands, a sector most companies had left for dead. Thanks to Petroteq and other innovative firms, the technology to unlock clean, cheap oil sands could soon fuel the next chapter of the U.S. energy revolution.
Oil Sands: the Alternative Unconventional
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Oil sands are deposits of bitumen, a thick and viscous substance that can be refined into petroleum products.
The potential trapped within oil sands deposits is staggering: the Canadian tar sands deposits in Alberta is estimated to contain 165.4 billion barrels.
In the United States, large deposits of oil sands bitumen remained untapped. In Utah, for instance, there are bitumen deposits totaling 30 billion barrels.
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