The US is set to overtake Russia as the world’s largest oil producer by 2019 at the latest, the International Energy Agency predicts, as the country’s shale oil boom continues to upend global markets.
The latest forecast from the IEA predicts that US output will grow next year to 11.8 million barrels a day, rising to 10.8m bpd in 2018.
US crude oil output rose above 10m bpd late last year for the first time since the 1970s, overtaking top oil exporter Saudi Arabia.
The soaring US production comes at a time when other major producers, including Russia and OPEC members, are withholding output to prop up prices.
The last decade or so has seen a revolution in American energy production, led by techniques including hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and horizontal drilling.
Those innovations and the breakup of the Soviet Union helped the US narrow the gap.
President Donald Trump has urged the Saudis to pump more oil to contain rising prices.