WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States' role as dominant global military and economic power hinges on secure access to crude oil, but U.S. politicians who call for "energy independence" are shouting into the void, experts told a U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday.

The U.S. economy will continue to rely on crude oil imports -- which currently account for more than half the nation's oil consumption -- panelists said at a hearing before the Senate Energy Committee on global oil supplies...

Energy security could be the Achilles heel of U.S. global competitiveness over the next 25 years, said Flynt Leverett, a director at the New America Foundation who was once a Central Intelligence Agency analyst. [Click here for the full text of Leverett's testimony.]

"The most profound challenges to U.S. pre-eminence during the next 25 years flow from the strategic and political consequences of ongoing structural shifts in global energy markets," Leverett said.

Growing cooperation between Russia and China on energy projects could create an "axis of oil" and cement Moscow's role as top supplier to both Europe and Asia, Leverett said.

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