Energy Tomorrow Blog
API is On the Move to Its New D.C. Home
Jessica Lutz
Posted February 14, 2019
A lot has been done since we first announced plans to move API’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., and thanks to the work of highly skilled craft tradesmen and women those plans have officially become a reality. In step with the innovation and advanced technologies that have led the U.S. natural gas and oil industry to meet record world energy demand while driving record CO2 emissions reductions, the industry’s leading national trade association has a new, self-sustaining LEED Platinum-certified building to call home.
Petroleum Exports Retreat Suggests Global Economic Weakness
petroleum products refineries exports economic growth energy production
Dean Foreman
Posted February 14, 2019
API’s Monthly Statistical Report (MSR), based on January data, is a good news/challenging news proposition.
First the good. January data tell us the U.S. has never produced more oil (11.9 million barrels per day, mb/d) and natural gas liquids (4.9 mb/d).
At the same time, U.S. refineries ran at their highest rates (93 percent capacity utilization) and produced the most they ever have for the month of January (17.3 mb/d). Moreover, domestic gasoline demand also was the greatest on record for the month of January (8.9 mb/d). These are terrific milestones. ... But some interesting challenges also emerged.
Climate Change Threats are Real – Policy Solutions Must Be As Well
consumers climate change energy congress economic impacts
Mark Green
Posted February 13, 2019
The Green New Deal is getting quite a bit of attention in Washington right now, and naturally, people want to know what the natural gas and oil industry thinks about the proposal to revolutionize America’s economy and way of life – since it appears the plan aims to eliminate natural gas and oil, the nation’s leading fuels, right when there’s record energy demand by consumers.
My reaction is that any proposal that would fundamentally reorder American energy – and the way of life in this country – should first be measured by its impacts on American consumers, the economy and the country’s opportunity for future prosperity.
Especially this one. There’s little question that GND would significantly alter America as we know it.
The ‘Amazing’ U.S. Shale Revolution
us energy security oil and natural gas production oil imports shale energy hydraulic fracturing
Mark Green
Posted February 12, 2019
Recent tweet from the American Enterprise Institute’s Mark Perry includes a chart that vividly illustrates one of the biggest benefits of the U.S. energy revolution. First, it plots soaring U.S. net petroleum imports, which peaked at 60.3 percent in 2005, and then logs the plunge to just 12.1 percent last year. The thing that caught my eye in Perry’s tweet is that the time frame for his graph, 1957-2018, is pretty much the span of this blogger’s life.
Most importantly, in one generation, the United States has gone from steadily growing energy dependency to a nation that’s largely in control of its energy destiny. It’s a turnabout many of Americans never thought possible. Remarkable. Breathtaking. Or, as Perry tweets, amazing.
The Unforced Error of Trade Policies That Impede the Economy
economic growth gdp trade consumers exports
Mark Green
Posted February 8, 2019
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s new report, “The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2019 to 2029,” says what we’ve been saying for some time now – the administration’s tariff policies are a drag on the broader economy.
CBO projects that “the recent changes in trade policy in the United States and its trading-partner countries will reduce the level of U.S. real GDP by about 0.1 percent by 2022
Now, 0.1 percent might not sound like a lot over that time period, but potentially we’re talking about hundreds of billions of dollars subtracted from the economy. Dean Foreman, API chief economist, says it’s particularly concerning in the context of an economy that’s decelerating.
Advancing Worker Safety
safe operations pipeline construction workplace safety
Jessica Lutz
Posted February 6, 2019
Earlier this week, API President and CEO Mike Sommers and North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) President Sean McGarvey announced the start of new training courses on pipeline construction safety in West Virginia, Ohio and California as part of a groundbreaking partnership that was launched less than a year ago.
Energy, the Common Ground for Our Union
oil and natural gas state of the union president congress
Mark Green
Posted February 6, 2019
Tuesday night’s State of the Union message was aimed at Washington finding common ground to work for the American people. President Trump said policymakers should embrace the “boundless potential of cooperation, compromise and the common good.” It struck a chord; more than seven in 10 Americans said they liked the speech’s approach and tone.
The challenge now is to move beyond rhetorical flourishes to action. Think: energy. In the quest for the common ground to do the common good, lawmakers can start with energy.
Energy is America’s strong suit.Another Counter-Productive Energy Tax Proposal in PA
pennsylvania severance tax natural gas consumers infrastructure
Mark Green
Posted February 5, 2019
Back in 2015, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s first year in office, we first likened his bid to hike taxes on natural gas production to killing the goose that lays golden eggs. That’s because over the years natural gas production has significantly benefited Pennsylvania – the nation’s No. 2 natural gas producer – in jobs, economic lift and impact fees paid by industry that have helped support public infrastructure, storm and water systems, public safety, housing and more, all over the commonwealth.
Negatively impacting a key Pennsylvania industry doesn’t make sense. Yet, in this new year, Wolf is back with a new tax scheme that could hamper natural gas production and its benefits – a proposal to borrow money to invest in infrastructure that would be paid back through a new natural gas production tax. Again, a tax on top of the impact fees industry already pays.
Industry’s Continued Leadership in Preventing Cyberattacks
Jessica Lutz
Posted February 1, 2019
Natural Gas Provides Essential Support for Wind Energy – in All of Its Uses
renewables natural gas electric-grid
Jessica Lutz
Posted January 31, 2019
As millions of Americans tune in this Sunday to watch football’s Big Game, many (myself included) are mostly watching for what comes during breaks in the action – the notorious Super Bowl commercials. And if you’ve watched a Super Bowl at any point in the last 40 years then you probably know the beer brand Budweiser as a longtime fixture, with ads featuring the Budweiser Clydesdales running since at least 1975, and this year will be no different. Budweiser has previewed a 2019 Super Bowl ad that has just about everything: Clydesdales, April the Dalmatian, Bob Dylan…and wind turbines.