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Invest in the U.S.
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Energy
S P E C I A L A D V E R T I S I N G F E A T U R E
America have the resources to be a
significant provider. “If you look at the
industrialized countries of the world, we
have by far the best energy base, with
the exception of Canada and Australia,
which are both friendly,” says Kent
Bayazitoglu, an energy analyst with
the Houston-based firm of Gelber and
Associates. Bayazitoglu says the U.S.
has an energy advantage. “So even if
we don’t become a net energy exporter,
if we can just close the gap a li le, that
will be a huge advantage for the U.S.
because we will have cheaper fuel to
help drive our industry.”
POSITIONED FOR GROWTH
According to Howard Gruenspecht,
acting administrator of the Energy
Information Administration (EIA) of the
Department of Energy, production of
oil and natural gas will continue to rise.
Domestic crude oil production increased
from 5.1 million barrels per day in 2007 to
5.5 million barrels per day in 2010. Over
the next 10 years, ongoing development
of oil combined with the development
of offshore Gulf of Mexico resources
are projected to push domestic crude oil
production to 6.7 million barrels per day
in 2020. That’s a level not seen since 1994,
according to Gruenspecht’s testimony
earlier this year before the U.S. Senate.
“The United States is projected to become
a net exporter of liquefied natural gas
in 2016, a net pipeline exporter in 2025,
and an overall net exporter of natural
gas in 2021,” Gruenspecht said. “The
outlook reflects increased use of LNG in
markets outside of North America, strong
domestic natural gas production, reduced
pipeline imports and increased pipeline
exports, and relatively low natural gas
prices in the United States.” The natural
gas share of electric power generation is
projected to increase from 24 percent in
2010 to 27 percent in 2035, and the share
of renewable forms of energy will grow
from 10 percent to 16 percent over the
same period, according to the EIA. Global
spending on energy and petroleum is
expected to increase 10 percent to $600
billion in 2012 versus $544 billion in 2011.
Moreover, E&P spending is forecast to top
$800 billion by 2015.
Those stunning figures were cited in a
presentation this March by executives of
Bristow Group Inc. to the Howard Weil
40th Annual Energy Conference in New
Orleans. Bristow, based in Houston, has
3,400 employees and is the world’s largest
provider of helicopter transport services.
The first civil helicopter transport com-
pany to work in the oil and gas industry,
Bristow today is the leading provider
of helicopter transportation services to
the global offshore energy industry. In
their presentation, Bristow President
and CEO William E. Chiles and Senior
Vice President and CFO Jonathan Baliff
pointed out that Bristow’s largest share
of revenues —more than 60 percent —
relates to oil and gas production, ensuring
stability and growth. The potential for
job creation in the oil and natural gas
industries alone is staggering.
“A 2010 study by the consulting firm
Wood Mackenzie found that changes in
U.S. oil and natural gas production could
generate 1.4 million new jobs, $800 billion
in additional government revenue and
10 million barrels’ worth of added daily
oil and natural gas production by 2030,”
says Charles Drevna, president of the
American Fuel and Petrochemical Manu-
facturers. “New jobs would be added in
every state.” The private sector has been
a driving force behind the recent growth
in both oil and natural gas, according
to Kathleen Sgamma, vice president of
Government and Public Affairs for the
Western Energy Alliance. Sgamma points
out that North Dakota has 3 percent
unemployment and a billion-dollar budget
surplus, in part because the Bakken
formation is being developed on private
lands. Conditions are equally favorable
for companies like Noble Corporation, a
leading offshore drilling contractor for the
oil and gas industry that operates a fleet
of some 79 drilling units. The company
not only has operations in the North Sea,
the Mediterranean and the Asian Pacific,
but also in the Gulf of Mexico, where new
resources are just waiting to be developed.
LEADING THE CHARGE
From left, it may not be as sexy as high-tech
windmills or solar arrays, but Pratt & Whitney’s Organic Rankine
Cycle Technology could provide one of the most practical sources of
renewable energy, industrial heat recovery; an Ensign Energy Services
rig is silhouetted by the sunset over the DJ Basin in northeast Colorado.
KURT D. BROWN (RIG)