GlobalData consultant on State of the Union

GlobalData’s Global Director of Energy Research and Consulting, Matt Jurecky has commented on Obama’s State of the Union address.

‘With an economy resigned to crude oil prices hovering near US$ 100 /bbl and natural gas prices having maintained a sub US$ 5 /million btu pattern for over two years, President Obama blanked the oil and gas industry in his annual State of the Union address.’

In his speech before both houses of the US Congress, President Obama proposed diverting tax revenues from the oil and gas industry to fund transportation fuel alternatives through an Energy Security Trust. And, while President Obama cited low natural gas prices as the reason for lower energy bills, he called for more investment in alternative fuels like wind and solar energy.

Jurecky cites the oil and gas industry as having been key to US job creation in the last 10 years, shrinking the trade balance, and providing increased government revenue. Growth of the domestic industry has also decoupled the US benchmark for crude prices, West Texas Intermediate, from the more global benchmark, North Sea Brent, reducing the country’s exposure to global geopolitical volatility.

Major issues related to the oil and gas industry such as progressing fracking regulation, approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, and exporting domestic LNG went unmentioned in the address. Jurecky said, ‘an absence of these issues from the administration’s agenda and their lack of priority mean that the private sector will be required to continue leading the charge on replacing crude imports from unfriendly nations, advancing safer drilling of unconventional reservoirs, and creating a mega industry in natural gas.’

Edited from press release by Claira Lloyd.

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/exploration/14022013/globaldata_on_state_of_union/