Energy and the Economy
The U.S. chemical industry gets cracking
The reversal in fortunes of the U.S. chemical industry is one of the most remarkable stories flowing from the tremendous increase in domestic energy production from shale and other sources. Speaking at the annual IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston today, ExxonMobil Chemical president Steve Pryor offered a good summation of the chemical industry renaissance that has been sparked by a new abundance of natural gas, which chemical manufacturers use as a feedstock.
A good take on exports and trade law
I want to draw your attention to an important policy brief just issued by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, which provides further evidence for why natural gas exports present such a valuable economic opportunity for the United States. More than that, the Peterson Institute paper is a valuable read because it provides one of the best distillations that I have seen of the legal and regulatory issues involved with natural gas trade issues.
Energy exports = American job creation
As the national discussion on natural gas policy continues, let me call your attention to some important numbers on job creation and the likely economic benefits of increasing exports of energy products like liquefied natural gas (LNG). Preliminary data from a forthcoming study on the economic ramifications of LNG exports hint at a wide range of benefits from the export opportunities made possible by America’s new abundance of natural gas.
Will oil and gas produce a more golden future for California?
The Golden State might be looking a little more golden. That’s the gist of a piece in the most recent issue of The Economist about California’s plans to deal with its huge bounty of shale oil. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, California’s Monterey/Santos shale play might hold an astounding 15.4 billion barrels of oil. How much is that? Enough to meet California’s current level of petroleum consumption for 44 years.
Raising “Big Oil’s” taxes will cost jobs and hurt the economy
In his State of the Union address, President Obama pledged to “keep cutting red tape and speeding up new oil and gas permits” because he recognizes the vast economic contributions our industry makes in terms of creating jobs, generating tax revenues and strengthening America’s energy security. But almost immediately after those remarks, one U.S. senator introduced legislation that would undercut the oil and gas industry’s ability to invest in and find new sources of energy.
“The most important energy innovation so far of the 21st century”
At a hearing earlier today on Capitol Hill, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Daniel Yergin briefed members of Congress on the extraordinary nature of the recent increase in domestic oil and natural gas produced from unconventional sources like shale. I wanted to highlight a few of the points he made to explain why the dramatic increase in production of shale gas and tight oil amounts to “the most important energy innovation of the 21st century.”
