FRACK, BABY, FRACK: “US production at record high by 2021”

Over the course of 2015 to 2021, U.S. output is expected to reach a record high of 14.2 million barrels per day (bpd), after dipping initially this year and next, the IEA said in its report.

Production of U.S. shale oil, known as light, tight oil (LTO), is expected to drop by 600,000 bpd this year, and a further 200,000 bpd next year before gradually recovering.

“Anybody who believes that we have seen the last of rising LTO production in the United States should think again; by the end of our forecast in 2021, total U.S. liquids production will have increased by a net 1.3 million bpd compared to 2015,” the IEA said.

American ingenuity has put a low ceiling on the price of crude oil — one that Russia and Iran can barely afford.