Yes, U.S. Oil and Gas Production Is Increasing, but Energy Efficiency Is Still the Number One Resource
A variety of recent articles have trumpeted how U.S. oil and gas production is up. For example, Daniel Yergin, in a New York Timesop ed, notes that U.S. oil production has increased 1.6 million barrels per day since 1998 and that a further 0.6 million barrel increase may be possible this year. He also notes how shale gas is now 37% of U.S. production, up from 2% a dozen years ago. And he quotes President Obama as saying that shale gas development had by 2010 supported 600,000 jobs (this includes direct, indirect and induced jobs). EIA notes that U.S. oil production in the first quarter of 2012 is at the highest level since 1998. These increases are largely driven by advances in hydraulic