Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
broken clouds
weather
OMAN
23°C / 23°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

America’s 21st century energy story

925114
925114
minus
plus

America’s energy renaissance is the story of domestic natural gas and oil production that’s making the country stronger economically and more secure while benefiting consumers and improving the environment. A pretty good tale, indeed. Let’s start with energy production. The United States is the world’s leading oil and natural gas producer, thanks to vast shale energy reserves safely unlocked by advanced hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. The surge in domestic oil production is aiding the United States’ transition from an era of energy scarcity and limited opportunity to one of energy abundance and expanded opportunity.


More specifically, we’re seeing economic growth and strengthened energy security. The US is importing less oil — meaning less dependence on others — and is now exporting crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to allies abroad, reaping the broad benefits of trade. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects that within the next decade the United States will become a net energy exporter.


For consumers, the benefits of America’s energy renaissance are illustrated when they refuel their vehicles. The influx of US oil in the global supply is putting downward pressure on the cost of crude, which is reflected in prices at the pump — last year, at their lowest level since 2009. In 2015, Americans saved, on average, more than $550 per licensed driver, according to AAA. At the same time, US consumers saw an extra $1,337 in disposable income because of shale energy, one study found. Lower energy prices are helping to lower Americans’ cost of living, EIA reports.


These are significant benefits, to be sure. Yet, the story is even better when you consider the environmental benefits of the energy renaissance. Abundant, affordable, natural gas — which last year became the No 1 fuel source for power generation — is the chief reason US carbon emissions from the power sector have fallen to 25-year lows.


This is big news, especially when you consider that historically, economic expansion and energy production growth have been accompanied by rising carbon emissions. America’s ongoing energy resurgence has decoupled those trend lines, and we’re all the beneficiaries. At the same time, cleaner fuels produced by our country’s world-class refining sector have helped make today’s cars and trucks 99 per cent cleaner for common pollutants than their 1970s forebears.


Climate change is a serious issue, and industry is engaging constructively to address this complex global challenge. It is producing abundant volumes of cleaner-burning natural gas, spending $284 billion since 1990 to improve the environmental performance of its products and operations — refiners alone have spent more than $154 billion on environmental improvements.


According to 2016 poll, 80 per cent of American voters support increased production of natural gas and oil. Indeed, these are the leading fuels for our economy and modern lifestyles, projected by EIA to supply more than 66 per cent of our energy this year and 67 per cent of it by 2040.


We count on oil and natural gas for safe, reliable fuel but also as the foundation for materials and products that make our lives more convenient, healthier, frankly and simply better.


Now, to sustain and grow the US energy resurgence, we need forward-looking energy policies that increase access to public reserves, onshore and offshore, a reasonable regulatory approach, sensible oversight of operations as companies engage and partner with nearby communities and more energy infrastructure, to safely transport natural gas and crude oil to transmission facilities and refineries and then to consumers and businesses.


America possesses great energy wealth and an industry with the know-how and technological sophistication to safely harness that vast wealth. Policy is critically important.


Market-based principles should guide policymakers away from top-down, government-mandated ventures such as the flawed Renewable Fuel Standard — which could force higher ethanol blend fuels into the national supply, potentially damaging vehicle engines and saddling consumers with repair costs. Likewise, Washington should reject tax increases that unfairly target our industry — which pays its fair compared to other S&P Industrial companies — that could chill future energy investment and production.


We have an opportunity, generational in nature, to turn America’s energy potential into greater economic growth, increased security and more individual prosperity. The choices we make as a nation today will frame our energy future.


[Mark Green – API]


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon