Could fracking make the Persian Gulf irrelevant?

Could fracking make the Persian Gulf irrelevant?

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Since November, the United States has replaced Saudi Arabia as the world’s biggest producer of crude oil. It had already overtaken Russia as the leading producer of natural gas.

The emergence of the United States as a global energy superpower has a profound strategic impact that is raising expectations and concerns among America’s allies.
 
“This is something that is going to change not only the energy market in the world, but everything else,” said Jeppe Kofod, a Danish lawmaker who is drafting a report on the oil and gas revolution for NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly.

“It has huge political and geo-strategic implications,” Kofod told a recent meeting of legislators from the 28 alliance nations.

The lawmakers expressed concern America’s shift toward self-sufficiency in energy will weaken its strategic interest in the Middle East, North Africa and the Persian Gulf, while Europe remains dependent on oil and gas supplies from the region.

“This could have implications for NATO over the longer term,” Kofod’s draft report says. “The alliance is premised on the notion of shared security interests … a significant divergence in energy security perspectives could begin to erode this foundation.”
US oil imports fell below domestic production this year for the first time since the 1990s and now represent just 40 percent of demand. In addition, most of the imports come from other Western hemisphere producers. The United States imports over three-times more oil from Canada than it does from Saudi Arabia.