America is set to become the world’s biggest energy producer by 2020. Could that mean that it will soon be joining OPEC? Brian Palmer answered:

• To join OPEC not only must countries export energy, they must also have common interests. It is unlikely that countries such as Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Iran will think that the United States shares its interests.
• OPEC signatories also have to be able to control how much energy they produce. Yet in the United States energy production is left to the private sector, and the government has little control of the amount they produce.
• Joining would also lessen America’s geopolitical influence. If it is allowed to set prices itself – rather than be held hostage to the decision making of OPEC – it could use oil prices as a foreign policy tool by offering cheap supplies to those who act in the American interest.

Read more about other energy producers who refuse to join OPEC, and the last country that the cartel added over here.

Source: Slate