U. S. energy independence showing up on radar

The U.S. Energy Information Administration, quoted Wednesday in The Wall Street Journal, said that by 2035, oil shipments from the Middle East to North America “could almost be nonexistent.” Just eight years from now, nearly half of oil consumed in the United States will be produced here and 82 percent will be produced either in the U.S. or elsewhere in the Americas.

This is good news for Americans and especially good news for Oklahomans. Many hot producing areas are either in Oklahoma or ones in which state-based companies have a strong interest, particularly the Bakken Shale play in North Dakota and Montana.

Here's another trend that has to be alarming to the sheiks: Eastern European countries that have been as dependent on Russia for oil as the U.S. has been on Saudi Arabia are tapping their own resources using technology and expertise developed in the United States.