Energy Tomorrow Blog
Energy in the 114th Congress: Bipartisanship is Best
Economy Energy Security Energy Efficiency jobs american energy keystone xl pipeline fracking emssions
Mary Schaper
Posted November 13, 2014
Bipartisanship was the unifying theme from lawmakers and panelists during an event on the intersection of energy and policy earlier today, hosted by The Hill. With the midterm elections over, it’s clear “energy ultimately prevailed,” API President and CEO Jack Gerard said, starting the discussion of what the future holds for energy in the next Congress. Gerard:
“Energy should not be a partisan issue, and while the election played out in a Republican/Democrat-type dynamic, ultimately we believe energy prevailed. Energy was a key issue in a lot of races across the country and it’s clear the American public is growing in their support of energy, especially oil and natural gas.”
Indeed, the U.S. – and the 114th Congress -- has a unique energy opportunity. When looking back even just five or six years ago, no one predicted America’s energy revolution after decades of energy scarcity. Fast-forward to today: We live in an era of rich abundance and ample oil and natural gas resources. America is now in a position to become the world’s energy superpower thanks to industry technology and innovation.
No Tricks, Just Treats – America’s Energy Revolution
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Mary Schaper
Posted October 30, 2014
Reuters: U.S. chocolate demand may get an extra boost from an unlikely source this Halloween: the U.S. shale revolution.
With an abundance of crude oil due to the country's fracking boom pushing average U.S. retail gasoline prices to their lowest in four years, consumers have spare change to buy sweets at gas station stores, Hershey President and Chief Executive Officer John Bilbrey said on Wednesday.
"You could say that we benefit because people aren't spending as much at the pump and they're going inside," Bilbrey said in a conference call with investors to discuss quarterly earnings.
40 Years Of Energy Data
Energy Efficiency Energy 101 Economy Energy Security Environment jobs alternative energy
Mark Green
Posted October 29, 2014
October marks a birthday for our friends at the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Forty years ago, October 1974, EIA issued its first Monthly Energy Review (MER) – a report loaded with energy-related data and charts that’s a must-read for folks who follow energy issues. EIA Chief Adam Sieminski:
That first MER was under 50 pages and featured 3 years of data focused on fossil fuels. Today, the MER is four times as large, features data extending back 65 years, and contains information on renewable energy, emissions, energy consumption by sector, and a host of other critical subjects. In a vastly more complex energy environment, the MER continues to integrate many kinds of energy data from a wide variety of sources into one product that provides policymakers, journalists, analysts, and other concerned citizens with a comprehensive look at integrated energy data in the United States.
Certainly, much has changed over four decades. America’s energy outlook has pivoted almost 180 degrees. Check out this snippet from that October 1974 inaugural issue of MER:
America's Amazing Shale Revolution
Economy Environment Energy Efficiency jobs fracking
Mary Schaper
Posted October 16, 2014
More Precise, Efficient Drilling Makes U.S. World’s Largest Petroleum Producer
AEI Carpe Diem Blog: The Department of Energy (EIA) video above explains how the steadily increasing productivity of oil and natural gas wells in the US — thanks to the increasing precision and efficiency of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing — is increasing US oil and gas production. The shale revolution has increased domestic energy production so much in recent years that the US is now the world’s largest producer of petroleum products and natural gas combined.
From Scarcity to Abundance: U.S. Energy is Changing the Global Market
Economy Energy Efficiency gasoline prices fracking american energy
Mary Schaper
Posted October 7, 2014
Reuters: As oil production swells, demand falters and prices slide, the global oil market appears on the verge of a pivotal shift from an era of scarcity to one of abundance.
Oil prices have fallen as much as 20 percent since June, despite a host of rising supply risks, leading more investors and traders to consider whether 2015 is the year in which the U.S. shale oil boom finally tips the world into surplus.
While the plunge has rekindled speculation that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) may need to cut output for the first time in six years when it meets next month, some analysts are looking much further ahead.
They say a long-anticipated fundamental shift in the market may now be under way, ending a four-year stretch when $100-plus prices were the norm, and opening a new era in which OPEC restraint once again becomes paramount.
Surging Oil and Natural Gas Production Bettering U.S. Economy
Economy jobs american energy fracking education Energy Efficiency
Mary Schaper
Posted September 25, 2014
Observer-Reporter: For nearly an hour, Stephen Moore expended a lot of energy speaking about energy and the economy – and their inextricable link.
“You cannot understand economics unless you understand energy,” he said in his opening. “The industry is carrying the rest of the U.S. on its shoulders. Without the energy boom going on, there would be no economic recovery at all.”
Moore is a chief economist for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative research think tank from Washington, D.C. And his thoughts made an audience in the hundreds think Tuesday morning, as Shale Insight 2014 kicked off its two-day conference at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
This is the fourth annual Insight, and first conducted outside Philadelphia. It is organized by North Fayette Township-based Marcellus Shale Coalition, which supports oil and gas exploration companies and their supply chain partners in Marcellus Shale, the world’s largest natural gas deposit.
Thanks to Efficiency, American Energy is Surging
american energy Energy Efficiency fracking jobs Economy
Mary Schaper
Posted May 13, 2014
FuelFix Blog: Oil production will continue to soar in the six major U.S. shale plays, with more barrels pumped per rig, according to federal projections released Monday.
Total oil production in the six regions is expected to grow to 4.43 million barrels per day in June, an increase of 75,000 barrels per day compared to May, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The federal agency expects oil rigs will produce an average of 271 barrels per day each, an increase of one barrel over May.
The projection reflects the growing efficiency of rigs since the U.S. energy boom began. In June 2007, each rig produced an average of just 116 barrels per day in the most efficient region, the Bakken Shale.
Innovations, Technology Continue to Boost American Energy
american energy fracking Energy Efficiency Economy jobs innovation technology
Mary Schaper
Posted May 12, 2014
But over the past four years, Vitale and Van Blarcom have come to live in different economic worlds.
Vitale’s Organic Farm, located in New York’s Steuben County and beset by what its owner calls high taxes and a regulation-happy state government, has shrunk in size by almost 30 percent. He’s had to sell off land to stay afloat – and it wouldn’t have happened, he said, if the state had let him cash in on the riches buried thousands of feet beneath his property.
Strong, Safe, Growing Communities – Thanks to Shale
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Mary Schaper
Posted March 21, 2014
To Americans used to thinking of energy in terms of the Middle East, the names of the world's top producers of natural gas might come as a surprise.
No. 1 is the United States. No. 2 is Russia. Together they stand as the giants of gas production. What separates them is that the U.S. consumes its gas, while Russia has become the world's largest exporter — a key reason why President Vladimir Putin felt confident that he could seize Crimea from Ukraine and get away with it. Russia supplies 30% of Europe's gas needs, making it hard for European leaders to muster the resolve to resist.
The good news is that the West can turn the tables on Putin, freeing Europe from its dependency and in the process making Russia pay dearly. That can't be done fast enough to neuter the current crisis, nor will it come cheaply. But if Putin believes his actions will drive Europe toward energy independence, he'll have to think twice. Deprived of its biggest market, Russia's fragile, energy-based economy would erode, along with its power and Putin's stratospheric popularity.
America’s Energy Boom Benefits America
american energy Economy Energy Efficiency Energy Security Environment jobs fracking keystone xl pipeline
Mary Schaper
Posted March 20, 2014
The U.S. shale boom is beginning to ripple outward to American cities.
The shale mining industry's rising demand for materials and equipment along with the abundance of cheap fuel are fueling a modest renaissance in American manufacturing, according to a report prepared by IHS Global insight for the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
The shale extraction industry is itself driving growth through its hunger for steel pipeline, extraction machinery and other materials needed at domestic shale deposits, including the Bakken in North Dakota and the Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania. The availability of cheap fuel has in turn allowed these energy intensive manufacturing industries to cut costs and compete better with foreign imports.