Yesterday we laid out the trends in U.S. fuel consumption as well as the growth in domestic crude oil production. At the same time that report was being drafted, the International Energy Administration (IEA) was preparing its annual World Energy Outlook for release this morning in London, revising its predictions on U.S. crude oil production. The IEA now predicts that the U.S. will surpass Saudi Arabia in crude oil production a year earlier than it had previously projected and become the top producer by 2016 at the latest, rather than 2017. Under the forecast, Saudi Arabia will regain dominance in 2020. Interestingly, the other big gain in crude oil production that will add to global supplies and reduce the dominance of the Middle East in...