May 2014, Vol. 241, No. 5

Features

What the Oil Boom Means And Doesnt Mean For Energy Security

When we graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1968, the American oil industry was in the midst of a boom. Domestic crude production had increased every year for nearly a decade, and Texas was the world’s swing oil producer, providing our nation with important strategic flexibility. A barrel of U.S. crude oil cost less than $20 at the time, adjusted for inflation, helping to fuel an era of rapid economic expansion and prosperity. Most Americans thought this era of cheap and abundant oil would last forever. Just five years later, in 1973, the OPEC oil embargo utterly shattered this comfortable assumption, and our nation was thrust into a new era – one defi

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