Monitor | The other big shift going on in the global economy
When the US overtakes Saudi Arabia as the world's biggest oil producer, the fundamental change will be felt far, far beyond the energy markets
Ever since the financial crisis, we have heard a great deal about how the world's economic centre of gravity is shifting.
The United States and Europe are in decline, their economies hamstrung by crippling public debt burdens.
Meanwhile, Asia is rising, propelled by the emergence of China as a trading and financial superpower.
It is a compelling narrative, adored by the party bigwigs in Beijing and ardently promoted by companies like HSBC that derive much of their profit from the region.
Reality is seldom so neat. Even as Asia - and China especially - is gaining ground in its relative economic importance, a second shift is taking place in the world economy that will greatly complicate the first.
Take a look at the first chart. The black line shows how many billion cubic feet of natural gas the US produces each day. The red line shows how many million barrels of crude oil it pumps out of the ground. Thanks to technological advances allowing the exploitation of hydrocarbon deposits locked in giant formations of shale, US natural gas production has soared by more than a third since 2005. Crude oil production has shot up by a quarter since 2008.