A PILLAR OF FUTURE U.S. ENERGY POLICY

摘要

Despite significant increases in U.S. crude oil production in recent years, roughly half of the 19.5 million barrels per day of liquids that we consume is still imported from other countries. Forecasts for oil prices are always precarious, but barring a prolonged global recession, prices will trend upward due to 1) rising demand, 2) higher production costs, 3) investment constraints due to resource nationalism, 4) fears over an imminent production peak (i.e., "Hubbert's curve"), 5) greater instability in the Middle East, and 6) policies to limit the extraction and use of petroleum (e.g., caps on carbon emissions and carbon taxes).