America's energy security improved for the sixth consecutive year in 2017 and neared a modern - day best, according to Global Energy Institute's (GEI's) 2018 Index of U.S. Energy Security Risk.
The index employed 37 different energy security metrics that measured geopolitical, economic, reliability and environmental risks. A lower index score indicates a lower level of risk. The ninth annual edition of the index covers 1970- 2040 and incorporates the latest historical data and forecast models. In 2017, the risk score dropped to 77.5, the lowest score since 1995.
Energy security was at its most precarious in 2011, when geopolitical turmoil threatened supplies and U.S. production had not yet ramped up. Since that time, risk scores have fallen 24 points, led by rapid decreases in scores related to imports from increased domestic production.
Notably, results related to energy efficiency and the environment improved. For efficiency metrics, lower scores were driven by improvements in the average vehicle mile-per-gallon rating as well as energy use intensity. On the environmental side, total emissions in 2017 fell 14 percent from their highest in 2007.
One metric that saw rising risk was crude oil prices, which increased by 22 percent. This was driven by the increase in the average price of crude oil, which had been very low the previous index year.
Looking forward, the index projects the U.S. will hit its record-low risk score as soon as next year, with further improvements projected in the future. Since the U.S. no longer imports natural gas, the natural gas imports metric became the first one to hit zero risk in this year's index. It's likely that metrics related to oil and gas import expenditures will also achieve the same milestone in the next few years due to a decline in imports as a result of domestic production.
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