Saudi America

Should the United States join OPEC?  This is an interesting question that Bloomberg Businessweek raised this week in the article Is It Time for the U.S. To Join OPEC?

Consider the following from the article:

"Within 10 years, U.S. oil imports will drop to about 4 million barrels a day from a current average of 10 million, thanks to new oil production in the U.S. and stricter fuel-efficiency standards for cars and trucks, IEA Chief Economist Faith Birol said at a London press conference on Nov, 12.  The U.S. will pump 11.1 million barrels of oil a day in 2020 and 10.9 million in 2025, according to the IEA.  The figures are 500,000 barrels and 100,000 barrels higher, respectively, than its forecasts for Saudi Arabia for those years."