Fracking seen robbing OPEC's power to set U.S. gasoline prices

The success of American drillers in coaxing fossil fuels from shale rock has the potential to boost production so much that it may deny OPEC the power to set global oil and gasoline prices, an intelligence advisory panel concluded.

Rising domestic production from hydraulic fracturing is expanding U.S. supplies, which would shift the balance of power in global energy markets, according to the report by the National Intelligence Council released today. The council, an adviser to the director of national intelligence, publishes a report every four years to aid policymakers’ long-term planning.

As the U.S. adds supply, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ influence over prices would wane, according to the report that echoes previous studies that project benefits from a drill process known as fracking.

“In a tectonic shift, energy independence is not unrealistic for the U.S. in as short a period as 10-20 years,” the report states.

President Barack Obama is promoting development of natural gas and crude oil as an economic resource, and formed a task force this year to avoid federal rules that would slow fracking. The administration is considering limits on the process as environmentalists say injecting water, sand and chemicals underground to free trapped gas and oil poses a threat to clean water supplies.

The intelligence analysis says concern about the environmental impacts is the “greatest obstacle” to fracking.

‘Close Loopholes’