America’s energy resurgence fuels national security

Point of view

America’s energy resurgence reduces a historic overdependence on foreign oil, improves the balance of trade, and strengthens foreign policy tools through energy exports and the ability to impose energy sanctions. Increased oil and natural gas production also affords the US useful foreign policy tools such as energy sanctions to credibly deter bad actors and adversaries.

For those companies that export energy products, equipment, and services, energy sanctions also require firms to carefully manage compliance risk. Sanctions often prohibit the engagement of US persons with or the export of US energy equipment and services to certain jurisdictions, such as Iran or Russia. Additional sanctions imposed by the US on Oct. 22, 2025, also add significant sanctions risk for third-party purchasers of Russian oil. 

Although most oil and natural gas produced in the US is consumed domestically, the country exported 30% of its primary energy production in 2024, doubling its energy exports over the course of a decade.¹ The US is the world’s largest crude oil producer, reaching record production of 13.6 million b/d this year, with the Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasting an average of 13.5 million b/d for both 2025 and 2026.²      

The country’s sophisticated refining segment allows it to process domestic oil, NGLs, and imported oil and export higher-valued refined products. The US exported crude oil and refined products equal to 55% of its domestic crude oil and NGL production in 2024. Regionally, US oil exports to Europe directly advance US national security interests and the Port of Rotterdam is the single largest export destination for US crude oil.³ Overall US oil exports to Europe surged since Russia’s war in Ukraine, helping facilitate European Union sanctions that largely bar Russian crude oil and refined product sales there.³

The US is also the world’s leading producer of natural gas, and its biggest exporter of LNG, with exports of 11.9 bcfd in 2024 and current liquefaction capacity of 15.4 bcfd.^{4 5} The US exports 20% of its dry natural gas production. 

In a landmark 2024 study, S&P Global Inc. reported that, even as early as 2023, US LNG exports generated larger export revenues than corn and soybean exports and were double those of US movie and TV-related exports.⁶ Europe is also the largest LNG market for the United States. US LNG exports to Europe of 6.3 bcfd in 2024 were more than double 2019 levels, and represent more than half of total US LNG exports.⁷ In contrast, the EIA reports that Russia’s natural gas exports to Europe fell by more than two-thirds from 14.7 bcfd in 2020 to 4.4 bcfd in 2024.⁷     

The unprecedented increase of American oil and gas exports to Europe directly advances our ability to use free-market mechanisms to help North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies address the ongoing Ukraine conflict. Energy workers from Prudhoe Bay, Alas., to Washington County, Pa., are working as de facto partners with US diplomats, helping leverage American energy abundance to advance national economic and security interests.

America’s surging oil and gas exports enable the US to stand up to bad actors and rogue states by imposing energy sanctions, both unilaterally and multilaterally. The US must do so judiciously, however, and refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is timely, as the economy remains exposed to global price shocks. 

Carefully calibrated United Nations and unilateral sanctions impede Iran’s ability to earn hard currency from oil sales. While the US and the European Union (EU) prohibit the import of Russian seaborne oil, a coalition of G7 and other major economies impose a price cap, now $47.60/bbl, on Russian oil exports to third countries. These sanctions mean Russian oil is either sold at a discount to more distant markets with higher shipping costs or, according to the US Department of the Treasury, via costly workarounds that pose legal and reputational risks to market participants. 

The Oct. 22 direct sanctioning of Russia’s two largest oil companies by the US further      hinders the export of Russian oil, and creates significant sanctions risks for secondary Asia-Pacific buyers of Russian crude. US sanctions on Venezuela have dramatically reduced that government’s oil revenues just as the international community, backed by the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, calls for the restoration of Venezuelan democracy.

The growing use of sanctions, however, means that US firms that export energy products, equipment, or services, need to pay increasing attention to specific export controls to assure that US persons do not engage with, and US sourced equipment does not end up in, sanctioned states. The globalization of energy supply chains complicates this task, but the Office of Foreign Asset Control’s website (www.ofac.treasury.gov) helps clarify guidance in these regards.

America’s energy resurgence provides the US with historic opportunities. This is a story that we should be proud to tell.

The author

Matthew McManus is a visiting fellow at the National Center for Energy Analytics and an adjunct professor of energy diplomacy at Georgetown University. He retired in September 2025 from three decades of public service at the United States Department of State.

References

1. EIA, Today in Energy, Aug. 12, 2025, “The United States Exported 30% of the nergy it produced in 2024.”

2. EIA, Short-Term Energy Outlook, Oct. 7, 2025.

3. EIA, In-brief analysis, Apr. 10, 2025, “US Crude Oil Exports Reached a new Record in 2024.”

4. EIA, In-brief analysis Mar. 27, 2025, “The United States Remained the World’s Largest Liquified natural gas exporter in 2024.”    

5. EIA, In-brief analysis, Oct. 16, 2025, “North American LNG Export Capacity Could Double by 2029.”    

6. S&P Global, “Major New US Industry at a Crossroads: A US LNG Impact Study – Phase 1 Report by Commodity Insights and Market Intelligence, December 2024.

7. EIA, “Today in Energy, Sept. 3, 2025, “Russia’s natural gas and coal exports have been decreasing and shifting towards Asia.”