Thanks for posting ... interesting to see that few folks talk about the aggregate impact of multiple long-term and near-term “threats” to our processing industry:
- less refining = expensive fertilizer, fewer plastics, less gas, and lots of imports of many, many products and feedstocks
- enviro “good intentions” have morphed into enviro “terrorism” over the last 30 years
latest threats:
- new drill permit process (proposed)
- massive reduction in permits to drill on federal lands
- hydraulic fracturing permit (proposed)
- EPA regs (pending, if no cap-and-tax legislation)
Possible impacts:
1. Natural gas oversupply could vanish in 12 months, resulting in a natural gas super-spike (we have delayed or cancelled many LNG terminals, and we let the Chinese buy future rights to Canadian gas)
2. Increase in oil imports as domestic production comes under even more pressure
3. Tough decisions at refineries ... whether to invest “offshore” or onshore. Companies with retail gasoline outlets (e.g. Valero) may have the toughest decisions.
4. Continued pressure on exploration, production, transportation and refining employment.
Ultimately the “oil and refining and mining are bad” education message over the last 20+ years will haunt us for decades. Another reason to figure out now how you might live (”get by”) with little fertilizer, plastics, nat.gas, gasoline or electricity ...
What do you mean by Natural Gas Oversupply?