U.S. Seen as Climate Risk With Two-Thirds of New Oil and Gas

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. will account for for almost two-thirds of the world’s new oil and natural gas output in the decade ahead, making it a critical obstacle to stopping climate pollution, a London-based advocacy group says.

Propelled by the shale boom, the U.S. will pump out the equivalent of 88.9 billion barrels of oil from new fields in the 2020s, Global Witness, an environmental and human rights group, said in a report Tuesday that cites data from industry consultant Rystad Energy.

The U.S. is set to generate 20 times more new oil and gas than Russia and 40 times that of Saudi Arabia, Global Witness said. Texas -- home to the Permian and Eagle Ford shale basins -- will surpass all countries for new output, with Pennsylvania, New Mexico, North Dakota and three other states also sharing the top ten of new production along with Canada, Brazil and Russia.

“The U.S. is doubling down on fossil fuels with a boom in oil and gas production that puts a safe climate at risk,” Murray Worthy, a senior campaigner with the group, said in an email statement. “The scale of new production forecast from the U.S. is staggering, no other country comes even close.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Nussbaum in New York at anussbaum1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Carlos Caminada at ccaminada1@bloomberg.net, Reg Gale, Christine Buurma

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