Setting it straight: debunking common misperceptions of oil and America's quest for energy independence.

• Author: Gibbons, Michael J., Jr.

A review of Myths of the Oil Boom: American National Security in a Global Energy Market

By Steve A. Yetiv

(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015), 257 pages.

With his new book Myths of the Oil Boom, Dr. Steve Yetiv builds upon his previous work, which is centered on energy security, U.S. foreign policy, and the Persian Gulf. Dr. Yetiv makes the argument that increasing U.S. oil production can only take America so far, because true energy security comes from reducing domestic consumption, which in turn attenuates exogenous shocks on U.S. energy imports, and subsequently the U.S. economy. The author disagrees with over optimism that increasing domestic production of oil will liberate the U.S. from its dependence on the Middle East and its need to project power in the Persian Gulf. Instead, he uses the term "synergistic strategy" to argue that the best solution is a reduction in domestic consumption concurrent with the increase in domestic production. Dr. Yetiv argues that if the U.S. fails to formulate a long-term strategy aimed at reducing its consumption, it will be forced to maintain its posture throughout the Persian Gulf in order to protect its ever vital shipping lanes. (1) The book provides a comprehensive overview of the geopolitical landscape and the importance of the Middle East's oil production in the future; "Oil Market Power" and foreign policy; and solutions to mitigate contemporary trends of consumption for a more energy efficient and secure future. This work is very easy to digest and difficult to refute.

There is a combination of environmental, geological, political, and economic factors that could hinder the oil boom. Delving into the geopolitical landscape surrounding Saudi Arabia's increased oil production, Dr. Yetiv touches on OPEC's ability to cooperate and reduce its production in equal measure to the projected increase in U.S. production. This is a concern given OPEC's poor history of creating consensus, but if the organization were to practice better discipline in aggregate, it might offset the U.S. boom's downward pressure on oil prices. (2) There is much credibility to this claim, considering that the cost to produce shale oil is higher than that of a Saudi-produced barrel of oil. Meanwhile, other OPEC members require higher prices to receive economic benefit from their production. It is the proximity of this high "break even" price to the projected price of shale oil that reduces the chances of suppressing...