US energy: what to watch in 2018

Oil production, trade, renewables and technology top our list of major questions facing America's energy industry heading into the new year

The US energy sector is undergoing a period of deep transformation: from booming oil and gas output to a revolution in the power mix and the rise of electric vehicles. These changes are raising a host of new questions for the industry. Here are a few we'll be watching closely this year. 1. How high will US oil production go? America's crude output will grow again in 2018, but the pace is likely to slow from last year. Between December 2016 and end-2017, the US likely added more than 1m barrels a day of oil production - a return to pre-crash levels of growth. The final figures for the year aren't in yet, but analysts at Rystad Energy say US crude production capacity likely hit 10m b/d by end-