US production a 'game changer' in oil market

Washington

THE top US oil lobby said on Tuesday that the oil market's muted response to the escalating crisis between Saudi Arabia and Iran shows US production has been a "game changer."

The United States now is the world's number one crude-oil producer and is "poised to remain a dominant global player, something that was unseen just a decade ago," said Jack Gerard, president and chief executive of the American Petroleum Institute, in an annual speech outlining the state of the industry.

Oil prices extended losses on Tuesday amid the Saudi-Iran diplomatic row as worries about global oversupplies trumped concerns about a potential impact on Middle East oil …