By Penny Starr
A new report commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute stated that the United States, in partnership with Canada, has the energy resources to make the country completely independent of outside sources for liquid fuel supplies by 2024.
Calling the state of the U.S. oil and natural gas sector a “renaissance,” the report overview stated, “America also finds itself on the cusp of energy self-sufficiency and security through reliable, affordable, and abundant supplies of domestic oil and natural gas that can sustain and empower us well into the foreseeable future.
“In fact, the U.S. is already the global leader in oil and natural gas production and together with Canadian energy supplies could produce more than 100 percent of its liquid fuel needs by 2024,” the report, titled “The State of American Energy: America’s Energy, America’s Choice,” stated.
What’s critical to reaching that goal is making the right energy decisions, according to Jack Gerard, president and CEO of API, a national trade association that represents all segments of America’s technology-driven oil and natural gas industry.
“The question before us today is whether we have the vision and wisdom to take full advantage of our vast energy resources,” Gerard said in his prepared remarks at the release of the report in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. “The energy policy choices we make today are among the most important and far reaching policy decisions we will make in the 21st century.
“We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to reshape, realign and reorder the world’s energy market and improve domestic prosperity to an unprecedented degree,” Gerard said. “But only if we get our nation’s energy policy right today.”
Here are some highlights of the report, which was complied for API by IHS.
• Lower natural gas prices are predicted to increase industrial output by 2.8 percent by 2015 and by 3.9 percent by 2025, according to IHS.
• The oil and natural gas sector supports approximately 529,000 U.S. jobs, according to the report.
• The oil and natural gas industry pays approximately $85 million a day to the U.S. Treasury in taxes, royalties and other fees, according to the report.
• Economies in numerous states are benefiting from oil and natural gas operations, including Pennsylvania, Texas, Louisiana and North Dakota. In 2012 alone, more than 38,000 Ohio jobs were supported by unconventional oil and natural gas activity.
• IHS estimates that capital spending in oil and gas midstream and downstream infrastructure has increased by 60 percent between 2010 and 2013, from $56.3 billion to $89.6 billion. This increase in capital spending has provided both an economic stimulus and shows how shale driven oil and gas production is reshaping the U.S. oil and gas infrastructure landscape.
• The IHS forecast of oil and gas infrastructure investment over the next 12 years (2014 – 2025) estimates a cumulative spending of $890 billion (in 2012 dollars) in the base case, and $1.15 trillion in the high production case.
• Lower natural gas prices are predicted to increase industrial output by 2.8% by 2015 and by 3.9 percent by 2025, according to IHS.
• The oil and natural gas sector supports approximately 529,000 U.S. jobs, according to the report.
• The oil and natural gas industry pays approximately $85 million a day to the U.S. Treasury in taxes, royalties and other fees, according to the report.
The report also highlighted the Keystone XL pipeline project, which has not been approved by the Obama State Department. The completed pipeline would be able to transport up to 830,000 barrels of oil daily from Canada and U.S. Bakken Shale formation to U.S. refineries – more than 90 percent of what the U.S. imported from Venezuela in 2012.
The report also noted the limited access for oil and natural gas production on federal lands. Approximately 87 percent of offshore areas controlled by the government are off limits to development and production.
The number of drilling permits issued on federal lands declined by 36 percent between FY2008 and FY2012, and the number of wells drilled fell by 40 percent during that time, according to the U.S. Department of Interior.
The wait for a federal drilling permit averaged 228 days in 2012 compared to 10 days for a state permit in North Dakota or 14 days in Ohio, the report stated.
“To fully realize the opportunities of this new energy future, we must make the deliberate choice to take greater advantage of our oil and natural gas resources and ensure our ability to refine these resources,” the report’s conclusion stated. “We must build the facilities and infrastructure needed to bring fuels, natural gas, and other petroleum products to market.
“North America’s energy resources are bountiful,” the conclusion stated. “The benefits of unlocking them flow throughout all sectors of our economy and to families in every state,” the report’s conclusion stated.
- See more at:
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/penny-starr/report-us-canadian-energy-resources-could-provide-100-domestic-liquid-fuel#sthash.QqVb3KLA.dpuf
