America is set to overtake Saudi Arabia and become the world's largest exporter of oil for the first time in 60 YEARS

The United States is set to dethrone Saudi Arabia as the world's leading oil exporter for the first time in over six decades.

According to Rystad Energy, by the end of this year, America will best the middle eastern country in the exportation of oil and other energy goods, such as natural gas liquids and petroleum products.

This is the first time the US have achieved such a milestone since Saudi Arabia began selling oil to other countries in the 1950s.

'It's nothing short of remarkable,' said energy strategist Ryan Fitzmaurice to CNN. 'Ten years ago, no one thought it could happen.'

In large, the power shift has been credited to what experts call the 'shale boom', establishing Texas as the epicenter of America's oil trade.

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The profound energy power-shift has largely been credited to the 'shale boom', thanks to technological breakthroughs. Sites such as the the Permian Basin, in West Texas, have become the epicenter of production

Technological breakthroughs have also played their part, with drilling innovations helping to access huge swaths of oil trapped in shale oilfields across America.

With an emphasis on shale-based fuel - an organic-rich sedimentary rock - US oil production has doubled over the last 10 years.

Ryan Fitzmaurice called the US' milestone 'remarkable', insisting nobody would've predicted it would be possible ten years ago

And with Production at the Permian Basin, in West Texas, having reached an all-time high, the US is now pumping more oil than any other country - including Saudi Arabia and fellow powerhouses Russia.

'The shale boom has driven incredible increases in production, Fitzmaurice said to CNN. 'US production is off the charts.'

In 2015, Congress lifted a 40-year oil export band which led to an explosion of international sales. States across the US' Gulf Coast are now scrambling to build more infrastructure to help meet the ever increasing demand for US crude.

'Excess fossil fuels from America will find plenty of eager buyers in fast-growing Asia,' Rystad said in their report.

In Saudi Arabia, oil exports currently sit at around seven million barrels of crude oil a day, along with two million barrels of natural gas liquids and petroleum products.

In contrast, the the US exports three million barrels of oil and five million gas and petroleum barrells.

But according to Rystad, the current disparity between the two will vanish by the end of the year. Saudi Arabia, however, will remain the world's leading crude oil exporter specifically.

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With a shift in emphasis towards shale - an organic-rich sedimentary rock - US oil production has doubled in the last decade

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By 2020 the US is predicted to export more energy than it imports for the first time since 1953

The Permain Basin is considered the center of the US' shale boom success, where developing technology is allowing companies - such as BP and ExxonMobil - to drill profitably at lower prices.

Exxon now say the plan to produce more than 1 million barrels of oil per day from Permain alone, by 2024.

'Increasingly profitable shale production and a robust global appetite for light oil and gasoline is poised to bring the US to a position of oil dominance in the next few years,' Rystad's report determined.

Such dominance will allow the United States to be more energy self-sufficient that ever before.

Vice President Mike Pence remained unphased by warnings that the increase of oil production will cause irrevocable damage to the environment, during his appearance at Ohio Oil and Gas Association meeting on Friday

The Energy Department have predicted that by 2020 the US will export more energy than it imports for the first time since 1953.

However, environmental experts say the unprecedented prosperity poses 'catastrophic' problems for the climate.

On Friday, the Trump administration seemed unphased by the projections though, as Mike Pence appeared at the Ohio Oil and Gas Association's annual meeting hailing the US' soon-to-be global oil dominance.

The Vice President also used the opportunity to slam the Democrats 'Green New Deal', backed by the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

'The only thing green about the Green New Deal is how much green it is going to cost all of us,' he said with a wry smile0Play

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