U.S. oil production is poised to bypass Saudi Arabia this year, creating a new investment opportunity in American oil companies…

The EIA released a forecast of 9.69 million barrels per day (MMbpd) for U.S. oil producers in 2018, which is an increase of 5.7% over the 9.16 MMbpd average last year.

This new prediction is a startling revelation for the world’s major oil producers, such as Saudi Arabia, who could soon take a backseat to America’s shale oil companies.

And that’s creating a profit opportunity for investors who know where to look…

Why U.S. Oil Production Is Surging

Between 2010 and 2016, the annual growth in American oil production averaged 8.6%. From 2015 to 2016, there was only a single year of declining production.

Considering those figures, the forecast from EIA for 5.7% annual growth seems conservative at best.

On Jan. 9, Bloomberg reported that U.S. output was already set to rise to a shocking 10 MMbpd as early as February 2018 and that it will top 11 MM/bpd in November 2019.

Compare this to the nearly 11 MMbpd produced by Russia in 2017 and just under 10 MMbpd produced by Saudi Arabia in December. It’s no wonder that U.S. oil producers are receiving so much attention.

On Jan. 19, the International Energy Agency (IEA) reported that the United States could soon be the world leader in oil output, stating that 2018 has the potential to be “record-setting for the U.S.”

And one of the key reasons that could happen is that Russia and Saudi Arabia have recently partnered to throttle back output in an effort to prop up oil prices.

That’s creating a perfect storm for American oil producers: Rising prices are encouraging production, and OPEC and Russia are helping sustain the higher prices.

Higher American oil production is also a sign oil companies are making more money, and that’s creating a profit opportunity for investors who know where to look.