The US was more reliant on the Middle East for its oil imports last year, underscoring the critical importance of the politically-unstable region for the country despite the growing energy independence its shale gas revolution is bringing.
That domestic production boom has triggered intense debate over whether the US would still guard the world’s critical sea lanes, such as the Strait of Hormuz in two decades’ time – or whether China, whose dependence on Middle Eastern crude imports is rapidly rising – would replace it.
However, recent oil import trends from the Gulf region suggest why the US might continue to play a critical security role in the region. While domestic production increased the most in 150 years last year, Washington will confirm later this week that oil imports from the Gulf region continued to rise.