North America, if not the United States alone, is expected by many to soon be energy self-sufficient. Horizontal drilling, coupled with hydraulic fracturing, reversed the downward trend in production of both crude oil and natural gas. As a result, the lower-48 U.S. will be exporting natural gas by the time we meet in Tulsa. The debate over crude oil exports from the U.S. will likely still be raging, and is likely to be an element of the 2016 U...