Oil, and natural gas are the dominant fuels in the U.S. economy, providing 62 percent of the nation's energy and almost 100 percent of its transportation fuels. The federal onshore lands share of the nation's energy production from over 47,000 oil and gas wells on over 21,000 producing leases is 11 percent for natural gas (2,139 million cubic feet) and 5 percent for oil (108 million barrels of oil). By 2020, the U.S. will need about 50 percent more natural gas and one-third more oil to meet demand. However, U.S. production is expected to decline over the next two decades. Demand for natural gas will continue to outpace domestic production. Thus, the U.S. will have to rely increasingly on imports of both natural gas and oil.
Anywhere from 30 to 70 percent of oil and 10 to 20 percent of natural gas is not recovered in field development. It is estimated that enhanced oil recovery projects, including the development of new recovery techniques, could add about 60 billion barrels of oil nationwide from existing fields.
For a map of major oil and gas fields in the U.S., see page 5-6 in the National Energy Policy report, May 2001.