Energy
Strategy, Technology, and Current Issues
in the Oil Industry
Energy Overview / Current Issues in
Energy
Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D.
Issue:
Geopolitical power shuffles.
Geopolitical power will shift as countries with natural gas
resources transition away from using imported oil and take
advantage of plentiful and inexpensive gas.
According to many analysts, the shale energy revolution is
likely to result in a realignment of global power, and those
changes will benefit the West (namely the U.S.) and will
reinforce U.S. power, at least during the first half of the 21st
century.
What is enabling the change is the fast pace of technological
innovation which will allow shale oil and gas to be produced at
a much lower cost than today, and to conquer then now seemingly
intractable problem of decline.
According to some reports, U.S. energy independence (projected
to be achieved by 2020 or 2030), will result in dramatic
geopolitical shifts. In 2012, the U.S. imported only 40
percent of the oil it consumed, which is down from 60% in 2005.
This was possible in part because of several very large
oil-producing unconventional fields that are now coming online,
namely the Bakken (in North Dakota and Montana), the Eagle Ford
(south Texas), and other liquids-rich plays, including the
Mississippi Lime (Kansas and Oklahoma), the Woodford shale
(Oklahoma), and the Niobrara (Colorado and Wyoming).
According to Citigroup analysts, certain sectors of the economy
will benefit more than others, and similarly, certain sectors of
the global economy will benefit. For example, fewer sales to the
U.S. could lead to less emphasis on Middle East policy, with a
long-term effect of other countries moving to cement ties (and
supplies); namely India and China.
Readings:
Energy 2020: North America, the New Middle East?
CitiGroup Report:
https://ir.citi.com/%2FSyMM9ffgfOZguStaGpnCw5NhPkvdMbbn02HMA05ZX%2BJHjYVS07GqhxF2wMk%2Bh4tv7DEZ5FymVM%3D
DOE Report
http://www.ourenergypolicy.org/energy-2020-north-america-the-new-middle-east/
American Energy Independence: The Great Shake-up
http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2013/05/25/american-energy-independence-great-shake/pO9Lsad4cVQvjdpyxMI1DO/story.html
The shale revolution’s shifting geopolitics
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-shale-revolutions-shifting-geopolitics/article4256348.ece
Shale Will Power U.S. Economy
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/4fe91278-9d29-11e2-88e9-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2UQNaqGyq
Shale Gas Revolution: Developments and Changes
http://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/public/Research/Energy,%20Environment%20and%20Development/bp0812_stevens.pdf
Shale Gas: A Global Perspective
http://www.gses.com/images/documents/shale-gas-global-perspective.pdf
What If We Never Run Out of Oil? (article about methane
hydrates)
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/05/what-if-we-never-run-out-of-oil/309294/
Guiding Questions:
What are some of the top implications of energy independence of
the U.S.?
Given that the increased production is only possible with new
technologies, what are the implications for the U.S.
economy? The U.S. workforce?
When people comment that the gains are likely to be
asymmetrical, what exactly does that mean?