"It’s very possible," Worthington of the United States becoming the global leader. "I would think so but I can’t be certain."
The energy association director explained that since Washington did not and cannot join the historic oil freeze deal, US and other producers will boost their production to take advantage of higher oil prices.
"You will find a lot of increased production, particularly in the United States. Our production has been growing, and it will continue to grow," he said.
Worthington noted that both crude oil and shale oil production will rise this year.
"Shale oil has been increasing faster, and I imagine that that will continue," he added.
In November 2016, OPEC member states reached an agreement to cut oil production by 1.2 million barrels per day for the first half of 2017 to support global oil prices.
The accord was also supported by 11 non-OPEC states, including Russia, Mexico and Kazakhstan, which had joined the deal by promising to reduce oil output by 558,000 barrels per day. The deal was reached for a six-month period with a possibility to extend it.
