In 2017 the U.S. will be the world's largest producer of oil

U.S. growth as oil producer is attributable to a sharp rise in the production of unconventional oil and gas, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). "Energy development in the U.S. is deep and its effect will be felt beyond North America-and-energy sector," the IEA said. "The recent spike in U.S. production of unconventional oil and gas, driven extraction technologies are releasing oil and gas resources from shale, is stimulating economic activity, with a cheaper gas and electricity prices that give industry a competitive advantage, " said the agency. The IEA said it saw a continued fall in U.S. imports of crude and that America would become a net exporter of oil to around 2030. "The United States, which currently imports about 20 percent of its total energy needs, it becomes almost totally self-sufficient in net terms, a drastic change of the trend seen in most other energy-importing countries," said. The IEA's chief economist, Fatih Birol, told a press conference in London that he believedRussia would overtake the United States as a major gas producer by a significant margin for 2015. Shortly thereafter, in 2017, the United States became the leading oil producer, said Birol. The IEA said it saw an increase in U.S. crude oil production to 10 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2015 and 11.1 million bpd in 2020, before easing to 9.2 million bpd by 2035. Oil production in Saudi Arabia would be 10.9 million bpd by 2015, the IEA said, and 10.6 million bpd in 2020, but would grow to 12.3 million bpd by 2035. The U.S. oil boom accelerate a change in the direction of international trade of crude, the IEA said, anticipating that by 2035 almost 90 percent of Middle Eastern oil would go to Asia. However, global energy demand would continue to rise , growing more than a third by 2035, with China, India and the Middle East accounting for 60 percent of the expansion. An increase of the world population, at 1,800 million to 8,600 million, leading to a growth in demand for oil globally in more than 10 percent to more than 99 million bpd by 2035, keeping upward pressure on crude prices, the IEA said.