U.S. close to energy independence by 2030

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LONDON, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- The United States may be close to self-sufficiency in energy by 2030 because of a "shale revolution" in the country, said BP's chief executive officer.

BP this week published its global energy outlook, which states that unconventional oil and natural gas reserves are expected to have major implications for energy sector growth.

Bob Dudley, chief executive officer for BP, said oil and natural gas production growth in the United States were reshaping trade policies.

"We expect the shale revolution will help make the United States just short of self-sufficiency in energy by 2030, while China and India become increasingly import-dependent," he said in his address. "In fact I think the shale revolution will turn out to be the greatest technology development in our industry in the last decade or two."

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said production from shale-rich U.S. states like North Dakota meant the United States was gaining ground over most non-OPEC states.

Dudley said that, overall, so-called tight oil may meet about half of the world's growth in demand by 2030 and most of that will come from outside OPEC. For shale gas, BP expects a major breakthrough for production.

"We think that by 2030 around three-quarters of shale gas production will still be in North America," he said.

Environmental groups opposing the exploration of unconventional resources have expressed concern that controversial extraction methods may be too great of a risk to pursue.