American energy experts have eyed Pennsylvania and its production of oil and natural gas as a critical state in the nation’s continued energy dominance.
Officials with American Petroleum Institute (API) recently told reporters, including one with The Center Square, that such dominance won’t continue without expanding pipeline capacity, as is done in Texas and Louisiana.
In Pennsylvania, long-running complaints have centered on the trouble with getting drilling permits, a concern expressed previously to the Sun-Gazette by Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Drilling on state-controlled lands also has been an issue addressed by lawmakers.
Pennsylvania, API stated, has played a significant role in transitioning to cleaner forms of energy including liquified natural gas.
According to Dustin Meyer, senior vice president of policy, economy and regulatory affairs for API, displacing coal should also include building more capacity to move liquid gas out of the region, as reported by The Center Square.
Meanwhile, API President and CEO Mike Sommers said energy dominance is the result of decades of investment, innovation and most importantly a bipartisan commitment to support American energy.
Today’s record production of crude and natural gas also is due, mostly, to forward-thinking leasing and permitting decisions from previous presidential administrations.
The agency suggested Pennsylvania’s struggles may be due to pipeline capacity problems that persist unlike in Texas and Louisiana.
“That’s a reminder of the need for smart, consistent permitting reform to make sure that we can build those sorts of energy infrastructure projects,” Meyer said.
The American energy advantage of leading the world in oil and natural gas production did not happen overnight but rather through decades of bipartisan commitment and it won’t be sustained without the right policies from Washington and state policy makers across the country, Sommers said.
Geopolitical upheaval and a national perspective
Stability in the energy marketplace will not continue “if we don’t reverse course on short-sighted policies and hostility toward American energy,” Sommers remarked.
Currently, Joe Biden’s administration has finalized “the most restrictive offshore leasing program in history, a program that does not include a single sale in 2024.”
Federal land versus private for drilling
Production remains solid despite the administration indefinitely blocking nearly half a million acres of federal land and Alaska from drilling — almost twice as much least acreage as it approved nationwide, according to the API report.
This is happening despite the administration proposing new fees and restrictions for onshore leasing delayingly sales and reducing new acres leased by 96%.
It is occurring even though the administration is implementing “roadblocks including recent reports that the administration is considering a ban on new land and gas export permits,” according to information discussed.
Compared to 2008
Sixteen years ago, oil prices peaked at $147 per barrel. The U.S. was producing only 5 million barrels per day of oil.
Today, production is closer to 13.2 million barrels per day, which is a 165% increase.
Back then, the U.S. imported 11.1 million barrels a day of crude and petroleum products, which made the nation, by far, the largest importer in the world. Of that amount, 6 million barrels came from OPEC.
Today, API stated, the nation exports 2.8 million barrels a day and is, by far, the largest producer of oil and natural gas.
A perspective on today’s production levels
Since the start of the Biden Administration, crude oil production has increased by 1.6 million barrels per day.
The majority of that 1 million barrels per day or about 63% has been on private land, API stated.
Meanwhile, production on federal land increased by about 500,000 barrels per day. But the institute’s data shows the increase is almost entirely from leases sold in previous administrations.
The more energy America produces, the less the nation has to rely on hostile nations that “don’t share our interests or our values,” Meyer said.
To maintain the nation’s energy advantage, API is urging a course reversal by increasing leases, opening up federal lands and waters, accelerating infrastructure development and approving permits in a timely and efficient manner.
As this pivotal election year commences, API will continue to distribute facts that it hoped will help to dismantle energy threats and empower people.
“Global energy needs are only growing and U.S. oil and gas production is a critical part of the answer,” Sommers said.
“Our industry and the hard workers who are tackling today’s biggest energy challenges can light the path ahead. Policy-makers must focus on a long-term strategy that keeps the lights on.”
Author: Mark MaroneyPublication: Williamsport Sun-Gazette
https://www.sungazette.com/news/top-news/2024/01/petroleum-experts-weigh-in-on-nations-energy-needs/