Energy Tomorrow Blog
Production of Pandemic Essentials Helps Nation, Industry as 2021 Opens
monthly-stats-report economic recovery demand petroleum products
Dean Foreman
Posted January 14, 2021
API’s latest Monthly Statistical Report (MSR) underscores the importance to industry of producing essential materials during the pandemic – including sterile packaging, medical plastics and antimicrobial coatings, including polymers.
Naphtha and gasoil in refining and petrochemicals increased 10.3% year over year (y/y) in December to a record-high of 5.9 million barrels per day (mb/d), or 31.3% of total U.S. petroleum demand. Again, industry benefited from this demand and in the process helped the nation respond to the pandemic. The technical term for that is “win-win.”
December also produced an important milestone – confirmation that the U.S. was a petroleum net exporter on an annual basis for the first time in more than 60 years. It’s remarkable given the headwinds of COVID-19 and increased pressure for nations to become self-reliant. The abundance, affordability and empowering nature of U.S. petroleum has helped cut through pessimism about global trade.
State of American Energy 2021: Ready to Help Build the Future
state of american energy economic recovery oil and natural gas industry
Mark Green
Posted January 13, 2021
We’re ready, and we’re able.
After a difficult year in which too many were lost, economic hardship was palpable and creeping doubt dogged the national psyche, Americans are right to look to the future. And America’s natural gas and oil industry is ready and able to help build that future.
It takes energy – affordable, reliable energy – to move people and things, to build, heat, manufacture, innovate and grow today and tomorrow. Natural gas and oil are America’s leading energy sources, by far, and our industry is ready to provide the dependable foundation for the country’s next great chapter.
Like every other business sector, ours took some lumps in 2020, but we proved our resilience, our staying power and capacity, despite significant challenges, to power recovery and drive new opportunity on a nationwide scale.
Those are a few of the key themes from today’s API’s annual State of American Energy event. Emerging from the trials of 2020, all of us can be thankful that the state of American energy – the state of the U.S. natural gas and oil industry – is good, very good.
Abundant Natural Gas Has Benefited Consumers
natural gas consumers energy costs production
Mark Green
Posted January 11, 2021
Making energy more affordable for Americans is one of the biggest benefits of the U.S. natural gas and oil revolution. Over the past decade or so, abundant domestic reserves, unlocked by modern hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, lowered consumer energy costs – even as household expenses for health care, education and food increased.
The challenge for everyone is not to take affordable, reliable energy for granted. Not too long ago the country was beset with rising annual costs for gasoline, ever-growing oil imports and dwindling domestic natural gas supplies. The natural gas situation was so alarming, lots of smart people believed the U.S. would need to build natural gas import facilities to help meet domestic demand.
Again, the shale energy revolution changed that storyline. We have plentiful supplies of natural gas here at home and increased energy security. The U.S. has become a leading natural gas exporter and was on track in 2020 to be a net exporter of petroleum and total energy on an annual basis for the first time in 60 years. That’s what energy security looks like.
This leads back to consumer benefits – reflected in a new U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) report showing that last year natural gas prices were at their lowest levels in decades.
Safe Development of ANWR Coastal Plain is Key to America's Energy Future
arctic access alaska anwr us energy security
Mark Green
Posted January 6, 2021
An important point for consideration by opponents of the scheduled natural gas and oil lease sale for the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska: World demand for energy will continue rising into the future as far as we can see.
Both the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the International Energy Agency project that – the effects of the pandemic aside – demand for energy, led by natural gas and oil is going to increase. IEA estimates that even with the U.S. participating in the Paris Climate Agreement, natural gas and oil will supply about half, and perhaps more, of the world’s energy in 2040.
In that context, the estimated 10.4 billion barrels of oil in the designated 1002 Area of ANWR should be included in America’s strategic energy thinking and planning.
Ready For Recovery: Four Reasons to Invest in Natural Gas and Oil Infrastructure
infrastructure investments pipelines jobs
Mike Sommers
Posted January 5, 2021
As we begin the new year, it’s worth recognizing that the challenges facing our lawmakers are immense. But with consensus-driven approaches, we believe the public and private sectors can partner to deliver post-pandemic recovery and long-term economic growth for America.
Of course, rebuilding the nation’s economy will require realistic and workable energy solutions – ones that prioritize resource development and infrastructure expansion. Here’s why investing in modern energy infrastructure can build pathways for economic and environmental progress.
Leading Through the 2020 Pandemic, Powering the 2021 Recovery
economic recovery consumers energy reserves efficiency
Mark Green
Posted December 30, 2020
What a year. Thinking of those who lost their lives or were seriously ill and the continuing hardships from the pandemic, such as lost jobs and financial setbacks, 2020 can’t end soon enough.
Like other industries, ours faced steep challenges as it played an important role in helping the country battle the virus and supported economic recovery. There was added meaning to the word “resilience,” and our country is better off because our industry proved its staying power.
Think of it this way: Imagine the country in the middle of a global pandemic, trying to regain its footing, but without sufficient domestic natural gas and oil – or a modern, technologically advanced industry to develop that energy for consumers, businesses and manufacturers.
Spotlight on Progress – Industry-wide Resilience and Opportunities for Growth
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Amanda Eversole
Posted December 18, 2020
Last week, I was honored to participate in the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council’s (WBENC) Energy Week and present at the State of Energy Industry Webinar, alongside a distinguished group of panelists representing every segment of the natural gas and oil industry to discuss the challenges facing the sector, as well as the opportunities for natural gas and oil operators in the year ahead.
This industry, like many others, has navigated the coronavirus pandemic, the nation’s racial reckoning, the election season and the ongoing economic fallout from widespread shutdowns. Across the board, API members have demonstrated unwavering resilience, finding ways to deliver essential energy products while protecting the health and safety of our workers, communities and the environment.
Normalcy Returning to Natural Gas and Oil Markets
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Dean Foreman
Posted December 17, 2020
Celebrating normalcy long has marked Americans’ emergence from a variety of national crises. It’s the same with COVID-19. As we emerge from the pandemic, we dearly want to celebrate a return to normal. Thankfully, as the economy recovers, natural gas and oil are doing their part.
API’s new Monthly Statistical Report (MSR) and quarterly Industry Outlook show our oil industry’s fortitude and resiliency through an unprecedented period.
The Environmental Partnership's New Flaring Program
the-environmental-partnership emission reductions
Mark Green
Posted December 16, 2020
A new program aimed at reducing flaring in upstream operations underscores The Environmental Partnership’s founding commitment – to seek ways to expand members’ efforts to further reduce emissions and improve industry’s environmental performance.
The flaring program is a significant addition to The Partnership’s list of performance programs. As with programs on pneumatic controllers, manual liquids unloading, leak detection and repair, compressors and pipeline blowdowns, the flaring program will focus on shared technologies, knowledge and best practices to foster actions that reduce flaring.
It’s a critically important step for The Partnership, which has more than 80 members, representing more than 70% of total U.S. onshore oil and natural gas production.
EPA Advances Smart Regulation with Benefit-Cost and PM NAAQS Actions
national ambient air quality standards epa clean air act
Mark Green
Posted December 15, 2020
Let’s make a couple of points from last week’s EPA actions – one that will bring transparency to some of the agency’s rulemaking processes and another that leaves in place effective standards for microscopic soot.
Transparency first. The goal in EPA’s new benefit-cost rule is pretty straight-forward: Americans should be able to judge whether the benefits of future Clean Air Act regulation are justified by potential costs to society. The new rule will help by requiring that future regulation under the act must be written using sound analyses, where data to evaluate environmental, scientific and economic impacts be transparent and replicable.
Many of the natural gas and oil industry’s opponents reject bringing cost-accountability to the development of regulation. Many of them also subscribe to a more-is-better federal regulatory approach – which gets us to point No. 2.