The U.S. will surpass Russia and Saudi Arabia as the world’s top oil producer by 2015, and be close to energy self-sufficiency in the next two decades, amid booming output from shale formations, the IEA said. (links in original) [1] The International Energy Agency has sounded the alarm about a potential oil supply crunch…. (links in original) [2] The boom in oil from shale formations in recent years has generated a lot of discussion that the United States could eventually return to energy self-sufficiency, but according to a report released Tuesday by the International Energy Agency, production of such oil in the United States and worldwide will provide only a temporary respite from reliance on the Middle East. [3] [A]n analysis of a few key global oil production factors exposes the unstable foundation upon which hopes for North American oil independence are built. […]