If the U.S. does not open up federal lands to exploration and production and support the rebuilding of the nation's energy production, refining and delivery systems, we can expect more price hikes and curtailments for energy, warns Denise Bode, vice chair of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission and former president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America.
Writing in the new issue of Energy Houston magazine, Bode says, "America's energy infrastructure and resource base is being shut down, and that is in turn causing a crisis from the gas pump to the electric meter."
America is approaching being 60 percent dependent on foreign energy, up from 42 percent 10 years ago.
That warning is echoed by Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating, also a contributor to the issue. Keating warns that "if history has taught us anything, it is that basic commodities -- the products that provide energy and food -- can be used as weapons."
Since energy-consuming states still outnumber energy-producing ones, he predicts a hard fight to pass measures such as Oklahoma's tax cuts for producers that have significantly reduced the yearly number of marginal wells being plugged.
Peebler notes that the flow of capital to market is a function of investors seeking the highest returns, and today, most investors want to know how a company is going to utilize the Internet to win competitive advantage.
"Value creation in the E&P industry of the future will focus on the knowledge-intensive activities of finding and managing oil and gas reserves and their associated risks," he writes.
"A new E&P business model must include ways of shedding assets and gaining more value from knowledge and intellectual capital." The way to accomplish that, of course, is new ways of utilizing the Internet.
Additionally, the Texas Land Commissioner reports on a new program that provides discount electricity to Texas public schools and produces more revenues for the education fund. The program converts oil and gas royalties into electricity.
(AlBawaba-MEBG)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
