The death of U.S. Energy Independence will occur when the collapse of shale oil production begins. And when U.S. shale oil production finally peaks and declines, it could fall much more rapidly than we realize. The rate at which U.S. shale oil production declines in the future is based on two key factors, remaining reserves, and the oil price. Before I get into the remaining shale oil reserves, let’s first consider the price. When the oil price collapsed from mid-2014 to a low at the beginning of 2016, frackers cut drilling considerably. From March 2015 to September 2016, total U.S. shale oil production fell approximately 600,000 barrels per day (info Shaleprofile.com). However, this decline was not due to the peak in production, but rather, because the low oil price made drilling shale oil uneconomical. What happens when U.S. shale oil production finally peaks along with much lower oil prices? […]