Oil, Gas Production Curbing U.S. Imports, Journal Reports

Expanded U.S. oil and natural gas production could cut oil imports in half by 2020 and end them by 2035, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

U.S. production is projected to steadily increase — as are imports from Canada — while Persian Gulf imports are projected to decline, the Journal said in a front-page story, citing the U.S. Energy Information Administration and OPEC statistics.

The decline in exports is due in part to more fuel-efficient vehicles, the Journal said, while U.S. production has been boosted by expanded use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which extracts oil and natural gas from shale, a system that had not been used extensively until recently.

Manufacturers have been developing more natural gas-fueled trucks, and energy companies have been trying to develop more natural gas infrastructure for the trucking industry.