Net oil imports to the U.S. could fall to zero by 2037 because of robust production in areas including North Dakota ’s Bakken field and Texas ’s Eagle Ford formation, according to a government projection released today. The Energy Information Administration, the branch of the Energy Department that collects and analyzes energy data, said the once-chimerical goal of U.S. energy independence could be within reach in 23 years under a “high-production” estimate contained in an update of its periodic energy forecast. “This is the first time that a case in the Annual Energy Outlook has projected that net imports’ share of liquid fuels consumption could reach zero,” said John Krohn, a spokesman for the EIA, in an e-mail. Estimating oil production is a tricky business, particularly for the length of time in EIA’s analysis. Forecasters must make a number of guesses, including the size of oil reserves lying thousands […]