The US is the envy of the rest of the world when it comes to energy these days. This is what Robert Bryce, Senior Fellow with the Manhattan Institute’s Center for Energy Policy and the Environment told the audience during his opening remarks at the American Oil and Gas Renaissance conference held last week in New York. And he went on to explain why.

“In 2012, US oil production increased by 800,000 b/d, the biggest year-on-year increase since 1859.”

Read more Breaking Energy coverage from the conference here.

Unconventional oil and gas resources are the major contributing factor to the production boom, particularly hydrocarbons extracted from shale formations. And while other countries have lots of shale, the US maintains several important competitive advantages, explained Bryce:

“The US has a lot of shale, but so do a lot of other countries – China, Argentina, Mexico, Canada, Australia – all of them have huge shale resources. So does France. So why the US? Why have we been able to exploit this resource while other countries have been left behind and why will we stay ahead? We have the rigs, we have the rednecks and we have the pipes. Rigs – more than half the working rigs in the world are operating in the United States. The rednecks, and I use that term with great respect…the rest of the world doesn’t have this skilled labor force the US does…We have the most extensive pipeline network in the world, the rest of the world is miles behind.”