Impact of Shale Oil on U.S. Energy Security and Foreign Policy in the Persian Gulf

The United States, as the world’s largest consumer of oil, has made efforts to maintain its energy security. One of the current dimensions of these efforts could be seen in use of shale oil and gas resources. In this regard, massive media discussions and advertisements have been made about the enormous impacts of this shift in energy policy and even on U.S. foreign policy in relation to the oil-rich region of the Persian Gulf. This paper aims to study U.S. shale oil production and its impacts on the internal and external dimensions of US energy security. It shows that the production of these resources has conflicting effects in various dimensions. Shale oil and gas production can improve some of the energy security indices on the domestic side, but it does not seriously affect the international requirements for U.S. energy security and, as a result, U.S. foreign policy in relation to the oil-rich region of the Persian Gulf. Consequently, we must be cautious of speculating about the massive effects of producing this type of oil on the security energy of the United States and its foreign policy toward the Middle East. In this research, an explanatory-descriptive method has been used.