Energy security, rather than energy independence, should be the priority for US geopolitical positioning as the superpower reviews the impact of the ongoing production boom from shale oil and gas fields in the continental US, a new report argues.

“The three key factors in the promotion of energy security are increasing energy efficiency, diversifying supply and investing in energy production for the future,” the think tank Center for a New American Security said in a newly issued report titled Energy Rush: Shale Production and US National Security. “The United States is currently taking a major step forward in energy production as a result of the shale energy boom, a development that will contribute to, but not ensure, energy security,” the report says.

The role of energy in the US economy and the dependence of the US on energy imports that are in turn secured by an active US military and an engaged foreign policy around the world are all part of a framework that has been under scrutiny in recent years. Expanded production of domestic shale oil and gas has put the country on track to become a possible net oil and gas exporter in coming decades. The potential independence from traditional importers in the Middle Eastern Gulf and from countries with antagonistic relationships with the US has been touted by industry as a major advantage of increased production and the policies that encourage it, but CNAS report author Elizabeth Rosenberg argues that the picture is more complex.

“As the United States imports less energy, some policy leaders hope that a push toward energy isolationism will insulate the country from instability in the global energy market. Such hopes are unfounded,” the report says.

“Hoarding energy at home, neglecting bilateral relationships with major global energy players and forfeiting economic opportunities to export energy would leave the United States less secure,” CNAS says.

The report, issued in conjunction with work by an Unconventional Energy and US National Security Task Force that includes Ambassador Paula Dobriansky, Governor and former Department of Energy Secretary Bill Richardson and Senator John Warner, comes at a crucial point in the ever-louder debate over removing a national export ban on crude oil in place since the mid-1970s Arab Oil Embargo. A recent hearing on the ban did little to lift uncertainty over its eventual fate.

For decades, US production failed to meet levels that strained the export embargo, and in the mid-1990s President Clinton allowed the one region that then had excess supply – Alaska – to export crude oil. Alaska is now revisiting the potential for exports to Asia as part of a broad-ranging investment program including tens of billions of dollars in infrastructure, linking in real time the export debate to Arctic development issues and the broader discussion about access to shifting global energy markets.

The potential for disruptive price movements and “trapped” production in the US if infrastructure issues are not addressed by US policymakers still slow to move on permitting is also raised by the report. Development of oil in the US could be hindered by “the possibility of a sustained price collapse for oil in parts of the US market where a local glut of oil cannot make its way further afield. US oil could get “stuck” in pockets of the domestic market if exports are not permitted to move it elsewhere or if demand cannot keep up with supply.”

The complexity of the tradeoffs involved in being both a large and diverse consumer of energy while transitioning to a new supply reality are evident in the CNAS report, as is the need for thorough policy review and revision by political and military leaders responsible for the country’s economic well-being and security. In acknowledging the potential for market volatility, the report advocates for “energy statecraft” abroad and a focus on economic growth and investment in diversity and efficiency domestically.

Full Disclosure: Peter Gardett is an adjunct fellow at CNAS and contributes to their research projects and programs, but was not an author of the Energy Rush report. He is also Founding Editor of Breaking Energy.