Energy Independence

The United States is energy independent.
USLNG exports are the proof and the guarantee that it stays that way.

At a Glance

  • In our 250th year, the United States is energy independent. We produce more energy than we consume. No foreign government controls our energy supply, our prices, or our foreign policy choices.
  • USLNG exports are not a threat to that independence. They are its commercial expression—proof that American energy abundance is real, durable, and globally competitive.
  • Energy independence is not energy isolation. Exporting energy strengthens America, generates wealth, sustains jobs, and builds the alliances that make independence durable.
  • Maintaining energy independence requires continued investment in production, infrastructure, and export capacity. Restricting USLNG exports would undermine it, not protect it.

A Generation in the Making

For most of the past half century, American foreign policy was constrained by energy dependence. The 1973 Arab oil embargo exposed the vulnerability. The Iranian revolution of 1979 deepened it. Through the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, successive administrations wrestled with the strategic consequences of importing vast quantities of oil and gas from unstable or adversarial nations. American diplomats negotiated with one hand tied behind their backs.

That era is over. The shale revolution—driven by American ingenuity, private capital, and competitive markets—transformed the United States from the world’s largest energy importer to the world’s largest energy producer. We now produce more oil, natural gas, and total energy than any nation on earth. In 2025, the United States exported a record 14.7 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) of LNG alone—more than any nation in history—with total natural gas exports (LNG plus pipeline) exceeding 24 bcf/day. The surplus flows to allies and trading partners on six continents, generating wealth, employment, and diplomatic assurance.

This is not a temporary condition. America’s proven natural gas reserves are sufficient to supply domestic demand and robust exports for well over a century. The resource base is growing, not depleting, as technology advances. American energy independence is structural.

A Note on Precision

The United States is fully energy independent in natural gas. Henry Hub prices are set by domestic supply and demand, not by OPEC decisions or Kremlin policy. American consumers and manufacturers are insulated from the price shocks that follow political crises in gas-exporting regions.

Oil is a different story. The United States still imports roughly 8 million barrels per day of crude and petroleum products—most of it from Canada—and global oil prices are set in a world market. Americans pay world prices at the pump. That is an argument for continued domestic oil production, not an argument against natural gas independence, which stands on its own merits.

American natural gas independence works precisely because it is market-driven. Private companies, competing for capital and customers, have built the production base, the pipelines, and the export terminals that make independence real. USLNG exports are how that system pays dividends—to American workers, manufacturers, and foreign policy. The argument that exporting gas threatens independence mistakes the symptom for the cure: exports don’t drain the resource base, they incentivize expanding it.

The Numbers

In 2005, the United States was a substantial net importer of natural gas. The turnaround since then is without precedent in energy history. U.S. natural gas production has nearly doubled since 2008, driven by shale development in Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia, Louisiana, and Ohio. The United States became a net natural gas exporter in 2017 and has set new export records in nearly every year since.

In 2025, U.S. LNG exports reached 14.7 bcf/day—a 23% increase over 2024—while total natural gas production hit a record 39 trillion cubic feet. The market has absorbed export demand without depleting domestic supply, precisely as economic theory predicted.

Permitting, Infrastructure, and the Threat from Within

The greatest threat to American energy independence today is not foreign competition or resource depletion. It is domestic policy failure: permitting obstruction, pipeline construction delays, and the willingness of some in government to treat energy production as a problem rather than a strategic asset.

Maintaining American energy independence requires a sustained, bipartisan commitment to permitting reform, pipeline infrastructure investment, and the sanctity of export authorizations. These are not industry preferences. They are national security imperatives.

To discuss American energy independence and the role of USLNG, connect with LNG Allies President Fred Hutchison on LinkedIn.

Selected References