Q: Which country is on its way to becoming the world's second largest producer of crude oil? If you said Texas, you are right.

OK, so Texas isn't a country. But it's as big as one, and with the recent shale oil boom, it's producing like one too.

The state of Texas has more than doubled oil production in the last five years from 1.1 million bopd to 2.5 million in 2014. That amounts to 35 percent of all oil produced in the US. The way things are going, Texas is soon to pass countries like Iraq and Iran, second only to Saudi Arabia.

Experts believe that hydraulic fracturing in Texas formations like the Eagle Ford and the Barnett, as well as the Permian Basin (the nation's largest oil producing region), will bring the state's production levels to over 3.4 million bopd. Already, the Permian Basin alone produces more than the countries of Norway and England.

Alongside the increase in oil production is a petrochemical boom as well. Companies simply cannot build the refineries needed fast enough to keep up with supply. “At some point in time we are going to exceed our production capacity, especially of sweet crude oil in the U.S, which is what Eagle Ford oil is,” says Texas Railroad Commissioner David Porter.

2013 was a record year for US petroleum exports like gasoline. 2014 looks to be an even better year.

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