By Rob Starr, Content Manager, Big4.com

According to oil and gas decision-makers who participated in a new Deloitte survey, America can bank on plentiful domestic natural gas, but should expect a continued reliance on foreign oil.

Three-quarters of the survey respondents think the United States is already natural gas self-sufficient, or will be within 10 years. When it comes to oil, however, survey respondents are far less optimistic about our ability to meet American demand with domestic supplies: 54 percent say the United States will never be completely oil self-sufficient – and only 26 percent say oil self-sufficiency is achievable in the next 10 years.

Looking at the issue of shale gas resource estimates, a majority (51 percent) of oil and gas insiders believe that current industry estimates for the amount of recoverable resources are “pretty much on target” – with 23 percent saying they are “somewhat overestimated” and the exact same amount saying they are “somewhat underestimated.” Extremely few think shale resources are “very overestimated” or “very underestimated” – 1 percent and 2 percent respectively.

Most survey respondents think that the abundance of shale gas will lead to liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. A large majority (72 percent) expect that LNG export terminals will eventually receive government approval – with 36 percent believing this approval will occur before 2014 and the exact same percent expecting approval after 2014.