Author: GTD Group (Page 12 of 23)

PricewaterhouseCoopers with the support of the National Association of Manufacturers released a report titled, “Shale Gas:  A Renaissance in U. S. Manufacturing?”  The report concluded that a strong national shale play effort could result in 1 million new manufacturing  jobs by 2025.

The national shale play effort is already showing strong results for manufacturers.  Nucor, a manufacture, is building a $750 million iron facility in Louisiana and has announced a $3 billion joint venture with Encana for 20 years of access to its natural gas production.  Mitsubishi plans to build an acrylic-resin processing plant adjacent to one of Dow Chemical’s new ethylene plants.  Fertilizer manufacturer CF Industries is spending $2.1 billion to expand its fertilizer manufacturing operations.  Formosa Plastics increased the size of the Texas ethylene plant.  (American Oil & Gas Reporter)

It has also been reported that foreign based manufacturers are seeking to build operations in the US:

Austrian steel manufacturer Voestalpine AG, South African energy company-Sasol plans to build a $11 billion plus gas-to-liquids plant in Louisiana, and Egyptian fertilizer manufacturer Orascom plan to build a fertilizer facility in Louisiana.

In March, I had the opportunity of meeting Jeff Immelt, head of GE, in Houston at Rice University’s annual Energy Directors Institute.  He stated that GE was committed to strengthening the energy industry.  In fact, a week later, it was great to hear about GE’s announcement of committing $110 million to an Oklahoma research center with the focus being the oil and gas industry.

GE states that “the energy industry needs technology to work in subsea oil fields, improve hydraulic fracturing techniques and transport oil around the world.”

The shale gas efforts in the US will need to obtain approximately $250 billion in capital expenditures in the natural gas, natural gas liquids, and oil midstream sectors over the next 20 years due to infrastructure needs.  America can meet the challenge!

U. S. Energy Independence Means Jobs, Security and Economic Development And America Needs America’s Energy!

Please let me know what you think, go to www.peopleseenergyplan.com    Facebook:  America Needs America’s Energy, with 5000 supporters and counting.  —   America Needs America’s Energy:  Creating Together the People’s Energy Plan!

In my book, “America Needs America’s Energy”, I stated that “the book was dedicated to the proposition that we need an energy revolution in this country right now, and we must be the leaders of it. By turning to new technologies, innovation, and the enduring American spirit that has enabled us to overcome every challenge this nation has faced since our founding, the goal of total energy independence can be achieved before it is too late.”

I go on to say that “We are the ones who will have to do it, because our societal institutions have proven they are not up to the task. It is time to take a stand, evaluate your own impact on our nation, and play your part in preserving our country. Energy is the future of America and America Needs America’s Energy.”

Thanks to research and technological advancement, we have seen a great surge in oil and gas activity. With hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling alone, the US oil and natural gas production has dramatically increased. In fact, this same science can be applied internationally.

America and for that matter, Oklahoma is rising to the occasion to be a leader in research and technological advancement.

The State’s universities are taking the lead. The University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University and the University of Tulsa are each involved in energy research.

The first Petroleum Land Management program in the world was established in 1958 at the University of Oklahoma. The program changed its name and focus to Energy Management in 1999. The Energy Executive Management Program was added in 2011. I was honored to be the keynote speaker at the Inaugural Dinner of the Executive Program.

There are four core energy colleges at OU: the Michael F. Price College of Business, Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy, College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences and the College of Law. The Center in Geophysics remains an important center for research in the world of geophysics.

Oklahoma State University is number 5 on the US EPA’s Top 20 College and University list of the largest green power purchasers.

The OSU Biobased Products and Energy Center has researchers who are addressing the most important issues in the conversion of agricultural resources to liquid fuel and other value-added products.

The University of Tulsa has the Institute of Alternative Energy. The Institute is a multi-disciplinary
research group established by the Research Office in 2007 to promote next-generation energy research.

These are only a few examples of energy research and technological advancement being performed in the State. Oklahoma is definitely taking a lead.

U. S. Energy Independence Means Jobs, Security and Economic Development And America Needs America’s Energy!

Please let me know what you think, go to www.peopleseenergyplan.com Facebook: America Needs America’s Energy, with 5000 supporters and counting. — America Needs America’s Energy: Creating Together the People’s Energy Plan!

Several years ago, I received a call from a good friend of mine, Dr. Dennis O’Brien who was serving at time as Director of Economic Policy at The University of Oklahoma’s Sarkeys Energy Center. (Dennis had served as an executive in the oil and gas industry and had held a subcabinet U. S. Department of Energy post. Therefore, he had access to many global energy leaders.)

Dennis asked me if I would be interested in having the president of PDVSA, the national company of Venezuela, be a featured speaker at the International Energy Policy Conference which I chaired and founded. I was definitely excited about the opportunity and the president of PDVSA did speak at the conference.

The tensions between the US and Venezuela have dramatically increased since then. For a few years, I was able to maintain contact with representatives of PDVSA. Communication was cut off during the leadership of Venezuela’s leader Hugo Chavez.

With Mr. Chavez’s recent death, comes the opportunity for Venezuela to regain its full energy potential. It will take years to do so, but it is extremely needed.

Chavez caused firings of many highly qualified petroleum professionals, some of which I knew, and he was not an effective energy leader. It should be noted that Chavez’s leadership or lack of caused ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips for example to leave Venezuela in 2007.

Venezuela reportedly has one of the world’s largest oil reserves but the output has declined to 2.5 million barrels per day.

We will wait and see if US companies are once again allowed to be a major force in oil exploration in Venezuela. In the meantime, we will stay focused: U. S. Energy Independence Means Jobs, Security and Economic Development and America Needs America’s Energy!

Please let me know what you think, go to www.peopleseenergyplan.com Facebook: America Needs America’s Energy, with 5000 supporters and counting. — America Needs America’s Energy: Creating Together the People’s Energy Plan!

Competition is well under way to provide efficient vehicles for the US, as well as the world.

Electric vehicles have been addressed by many as the answer to our future energy transportation needs. A great deal of the push for the electric car is because of the assurance of zero emissions.

Plug-in or electric cars, hybrids or flex-fuel cars, and CNG cars today include Prius, Chevy Volt, BYD F3DM, Aptera 2e, Honda Civic GX and Nissan Leaf. For instance, models like the Toyota Prius combine a gasoline engine with an electric motor, delivering as much as fifty miles to the gallon.

There are issues involved currently, for example, the electric car has a limited traveling range, and needs battery charging.

Myth or not? The electric vehicle is Green and does not contribute to global warming.

Electric cars are not emitting carbon dioxide directly. However, just to mine for lithium is not a total green proposition and the recharging of the battery using electricity comes from primarily fossil fuels. Therefore, the average electric car is emitting carbon dioxide indirectly.

Also, there is the charging of the battery which gives a brief range of 70 miles such as used by the Nissan Leaf. With that said, there are approximately 75,000 plug-in vehicles on the road in the U. S. presently. Sales are expected to be over 70,000 this year and 100,000 next year.

Is there a future for the electric car? Over time with more research and development this may become a reality. The real question is whether electric cars will grow enough in popularity to be of significance in the years ahead.

U. S. Energy Independence Means Jobs, Security and Economic Development.
America Needs America’s Energy!

Please let me know what you think, go to www.peopleseenergyplan.com
Facebook: America Needs America’s Energy, with 5000 supporters and counting. — America Needs America’s Energy: Creating Together the People’s Energy Plan!