U.S. holds more recoverable oil than any other nation

'There is little potential for future surprises in many other countries, but in the US there is.'

The day after the United States celebrated Independence Day, news of the U.S. holding more recoverable oil reserves than Saudi Arabia and Russia promoted an already heightened sense of patriotism and economic hope across the nation.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - According to Rystad Energy, a new independent estimate of world oil reserves revealed the United States contains over 50 percent of its remaining reserves in shale oil.

The largest shale oil deposits can be found in the United States, in the Green River Formation, which covers parts of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, while the state of Texas contains over 60 billion barrels on its own.

The analysis of 60,000 worldwide fields, conducted over a 3-year period, provides a glimpse into the long-term health of an oil-producing nation's economy.

As reported by CNBC, Per Magnus Nysveen, an analyst at Rystad Energy, explained the recent discoveries of oil deposits in the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico came as a pleasant economic surprise: "There is little potential for future surprises in many other countries, but in the US there is. Three years ago the US was behind Russia, Canada and Saudi Arabia."

Interestingly, other global oil reserves data from other nations indicate the United States is still ranked behind Saudi Arabia, Russia, Canada, Iraq, Venezuela and Kuwait. The Rystad Energy data claims this is a result of using opaque metrics, such as measurements of undiscovered oil.

Regardless of where America stands in international data, Rystad Energy explained the US is in good standing.

Richard Mallinson, of the consulting agency Energy Aspects, explained: "Reserves numbers matter but lots of other factors also determine short and long term results from what the oil companies and nations hold. The rise in prominence of the US doesn't diminish the role of Saudi Arabia or Russia, which have some of the cheapest to produce oil in the world."

Mallinson didn't end on a sour note and added: "There is a sweet spot for conventional producers in Opec. They want prices high enough to generate solid revenues to fund social spending in their countries, but not high enough to make too much expensive oil economically feasible."

OPEC is an acronym for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which is currently led by Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia allowed oil prices to fall to secure a long-term market share over other producers who charge higher prices.

Meanwhile, U.S. shale oil saw a fifty percent drop in production costs over the past two years and the ensuing boom played a role in the 2014 Brent benchmark oil price collapse.

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