(Washington Post) Daniel Yergin - For more than five decades, the world's oil map has centered on the Middle East and virtually all forecasts indicated that U.S. reliance on Mideast oil supplies was destined to grow. But today, the outline of a new world oil map is emerging, and it is centered not on the Middle East but on the Western Hemisphere. The new energy axis runs from Alberta, Canada, down through North Dakota and South Texas, past a major new discovery off the coast of French Guyana to huge offshore oil deposits found near Brazil. The Western Hemisphere's need for oil supplies from the rest of the world could fall by as much as half by 2020, which will mean declining imports from the Middle East. Oil that would have gone west will instead flow in increasing volumes to the east.
2011-11-04 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive