American Energy Dominance Means a Safer Future

June 4, 2020

It wasn’t long ago that Middle Eastern nations and Russia were dictating the world’s oil prices. Dating all the way back to 1973, Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) radically restricted America’s oil imports in retaliation of our support of Israel. Just a few years ago, Russia was using its wealth of energy to undermine American interest by funneling oil to regimes that opposed us. Now, America has the means to fight back – we need to keep it that way.

Oil and gas account for 52% of Russia’s budget and 70% of its export dollars. This level of investment allowed Russia to control the global oil market, and therefore have a heavy geopolitical hand, for a long period of time. Now, Russia’s level of investment presents an important opportunity that America cannot miss. Allen Gilmer, founder and former CEO of a leading energy data company, writes in RealClear Energy:

The emergence of the American shale industry and America’s ability to export its petroleum and LNG represented a major emerging risk to both Russia’s primary cash flow stream and its captive markets in Europe.

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected everyone. The outbreak and subsequent economic slowdown drastically decreased the global demand for oil – this is having a particularly significant impact on Russia. One oil trader called Russia’s failure to cooperate with OPEC in the wake of Covid-19 “Russia’s biggest defeat” of the 21st century.

The last decade has seen a tectonic shift away from OPEC and Russian imports and toward North American production. We have gone from relying on tenuous trade relationships with authoritarian and usually unstable nations to being able to provide low-cost energy to parts of the developing world that desperately need it — empowering our brothers and sisters to recreate the “American Miracle” in their own countries.

Russia’s weakened state, in terms of energy, presents America with an opportunity to continue this mission. A strong U.S. energy industry is good for producers, consumers, the economy, our national security, and larger geopolitical relations. Russia leveraged their dominance of oil to undermine American interests and influence our European allies…

A powerful America, on the other hand, and especially a powerful American energy industry, promotes freedom, equality, and human flourishing around the world.