ABSTRACT
This examines an economic viewpoint with particular emphasis on US energy security and the nature of regional business activity. The economic logic of energy security implies that the United States can be fully self-sufficient in energy production and consumption, provided it increases its trade in oil with its primary North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partner, Canada. The political logic of energy security should build on this underlying economic logic of regional economic activity. The importance of economic-based regionalisation and the triad, and the lack of globalisation, is now being reflected in political alignments. The importance of NAFTA, and a potential Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA), is relevant to the United States in terms of energy security. According to John Kirton, the Sea Island Summit of 2004 continued a successful history of co-operation in global energy issues. A regional NAFTA-based oil market would replace the world oil market, and it would require effective government regulations to be sustainable.
