Even in the midst of a boom in U.S. crude oil production, there are many who persist in the belief that oil production in the United States matters little in world oil markets. The results of this third edition of the Institute for 21st Century Energy’s International Index of Energy Security Risk should put this canard to rest once and for all. As we will see below, circumstances that just a few short years ago would have played havoc with world oil markets did not in 2013, primarily because of greater U.S. output.
Like the two preceding editions, this 2015 Edition of the International Index provides a comprehensive look at the relative energy security risks in the United States and 24 other large energy consuming countries from 1980 to 2013. This third edition incorporates the most up-to-date data through 2013 and methodological improvements to how energy prices are estimated for some countries. These revisions necessarily result in a somewhat different ranking of the energy security risks across these 25 countries, though the broader insights gleaned from the Index have not changed appreciably.