America's economy makes a comeback thanks to shale oil and gas ?

Perhaps !!

Charles R. Morris,  a fellow of The Century Foundation and a former banker and lawyer has wonderful news for Americans who desire to do away with their country's dependence on other countries for her oil.   He is also the author of  "The Trillion Dollar Meltdown" and other works.   His article at Reuters below is very informative and very inspiring.   I hope the scenario in the USA is as he states it to be.  Having a prosperous and strong America works out great  for us too.

Artie White, a squarely built young man of about 30,  is a driller with Helmerich & Payne, an international oil drilling specialist based in Tulsa. He works 12-hour shifts, seven days on, seven days off. It’s dirty, fast and occasionally dangerous work, but White’s pay is within shouting distance of $100,000 a year. All six men on the rig team are on a similarly lofty pay scale; none has a college degree.

This is the world of shale gas and oil — which has revolutionized the U.S. energy position. These particular wells are in Oklahoma and are owned by Devon Energy Inc., one of the country’s larger independent exploration and production companies. Drills go two miles straight down, then turn to go another mile through shale rock steeped with gas and gas liquids. The shale is “fractured” with a high-pressure burst of water, sand and chemicals to start the product flowing. Once the flow is stabilized, the rig is removed and the well is connected to a permanent gathering pipeline. It should produce hydrocabons for 15 to 20 years.

By 2020 or so, the United States is expected to surpass Saudi Arabia in oil output, and Russia in gas, according to the International Energy Association’s best estimate. By then all of North America should be self-sufficient in energy, which will do wonders for the U.S. trade deficit. Daniel Yergin, one of the world’s leading energy experts, estimates that the U.S. turnaround in energy has generated 1.7 million new jobs, including direct and “induced” employment, and that number should almost double by 2020. U.S. energy industry capital investment this year is expected to be $348 billion, or more than 2 percent of the gross domestic product.

The collateral job creation is even more important, and it’s just beginning. The big attraction is the low price of natural gas, the lowest-carbon fossil fuel, which can be produced profitably at about a third the cost per unit of energy as other hydrocarbons. That is particularly attractive to chemical companies. Natural gas is an ideal “cracking” fuel, generating the intense heat needed to break up and rearrange molecules to make usable chemicals. But it is also the raw material for plastics, Styrofoam, tires, sealants, adhesives, films, liquid-crystal screens, nylons, polyesters — almost everything around us. Dow Chemical just restarted a long-mothballed plastics plant and is building or rebuilding three others. Other big players, including Shell, Chevron, Bayer and Formosa Plastics, are expanding plants and starting band-new  plants..

But it goes far beyond chemicals. Consider Nucor, the world’s “smartest” and most profitable steel company. It began as a “mini-mill,” melting scrap to ...