But in a turnaround that industry insiders describe as nothing short of amazing, the picture has drastically changed. Oil and natural gas drilling is now booming in places like Eagle Ford, Texas, and the Bakken formation in North Dakota, bringing jobs and prosperity to those regions. And believers say the newfound resource is so much bigger than anticipated that it can help drive economic growth nationwide for years to come.

“For the first time in my career, we actually have the ability to talk about real energy security or independence,” said Foutch, 61, a burly Texas native with four decades experience in the oil business.

Technological innovation – primarily the growth of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” as it’s commonly known – is driving the new production, enabling oil and gas to be extracted from geological formations once considered impregnable…

As a result, U.S. oil and gas production is growing so rapidly – and demand dropping so quickly – that in just five years the U.S. may no longer need to import oil from any source but Canada, according to Citigroup. And the International Energy Agency projects the U.S. could leapfrog Saudi Arabia and Russia to become the world’s biggest oil producer by 2020. IEA sees the U.S. becoming a net oil exporter by 2030.