8 Stocks Benefiting From North America's Energy Boom

BOSTON (TheStreet) -- It's easy to forget that gas pump prices broached the $4 mark in some places early this year, as economic and geopolitical issues pressured the outlook for supplies.

But prices at the pump have declined sharply and the price of gas is on the back burner in the minds of many consumers now, thanks to the slowing economy and the continued boom in production of oil and gas in North America due to the widespread use of new production technologies such as hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

The U.S. Energy Department reported this week that due to new drilling in North Dakota, Texas and the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. is now pumping more than 6 million barrels a day of crude, up roughly a 10th since the middle of last year, and at the highest volume since 1998.

And that's only going to continue to grow, as the agency predicts that U.S. oil production from shale fracking will increase at a 5% annual rate for the next few years, and Canada's National Energy Board expects 5.5% growth there.