DATE: September 16, 2012
TO: Patricia Bennett, Supervising Principal
FROM: Connor Sims, Associate
SUBJECT: Oil Drilling & Gas Extraction Industry in the US Analysis (21111)
This report presents information regarding the industry, the primary operator of oil and gas field properties. The industry fuels its key buyers, the Natural Gas Distribution (22121) and the Petroleum Refining (32411) industries, with crude oil and natural gas. The industry continuously battles a shortage of available oil. In addition, many major oil fields have been in use for decades, slowly waning. Currently, the industry grosses among the most profitable in the US despite these and similar obstacles. The benefits of investing here
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New firms lacking this versatility may find an obstacle upon entry to the industry (Hersch, 2012). Additionally, firms in this industry must specialize in exploration and discovery for oil and gas resources. Firms may struggle finding initial success in this role due to the limited nature of resources.
Long-term Resource Depletion
‘Peak oil’ refers to the prime of any field’s production, after which goes into terminal decline. Most major US oil fields are beyond peak oil. The largest US oil field, Prudhoe Bay, has been depleting since 1979 (Prudhoe, 2012). The US Energy Information Administration indicates much production, particularly in the Alaskan North Slope, depends on world oil prices (Energy, 2012). Geophysicists and politicians debate over specifications regarding overall US peak oil, arguing the year in which US peak oil occurred.
International Comparison
In addition to the US peak oil situation, the US Oil Drilling and Gas Extraction Industry faces heavy foreign market competition. In 2011, the US ranked 3rd in oil production, behind Saudi Arabia and Russia (Energy, 2012). Saudi Arabia’s OPEC governor expects Saudi output to rise steadily beyond 2030 with a 1.5 million barrel per day spare production capacity then (Energy, 2012). Russia holds the world’s largest
Oil suppliers dig deep down to the roots to analyze and derive concrete solutions to carry on the rising market. The force of fracking in the United States is lifting the economy; the system has been a political game changer for the nation, creating job opportunities and investing money into the community. The United States is currently capable of competing with the global marketplaces at a high rate. This coordination leads to knowledge for on-shoring manufacturing, which eliminates the dependency on foreign oil. This significant groundwork is driving opportunities for innovators. The abundant supply of oil and the inexpensive cost leads to cheaper energy for consumers (Dews, 2015). Along with the low price for refineries,
Diverse and multi-faceted, the Canadian business market is one of the strongest functioning mixed market economies in the world. Within the Canadian economy, the oil and gas sector stands as one of the largest and most influential sectors. The oil and gas industry is unique as it affects almost every person and sector of the economy worldwide, whether it is through commodity or material input costs. In Canada, this growing industry could allow for the country to be the one of the “biggest energy producers in the world” leading to a massive paradigm shift globally.
[Oil production has jumped from 5.0 million barrels per day in 2008 to 7.4 million last year and is expected to average 8.5 million this year and 9.3 million next year, according to the EIA, the analytical arm of the Department of Energy.” (Koch par. 2)]
Several oil-countries have been facing economic and political turbulence as a result of the crash in oil prices, and there is disagreement among OPEC as how to handle the situation. (Krauss) While this is happening, America’s oil production continues to rise, as it inches closer to becoming an energy superpower in production and consumption; and countries that depend on their oil exports face recession.
However, most of the oil imports to the U.S. come from Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Venezuela, and Nigeria. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries or OPEC is part of where the Unites States imports their oil. OPEC countries only produce a small portion of American oil; the U.S. obtains most of its oil from Mexico and Canada. However, over the years Canadian oil production has risen while Mexico’s has fallen. It is obvious that it would be better to have a reliable, long-term supply of crude from Canada than rely on overseas suppliers, whether they are part of OPEC or not.
America must wean itself off of dependence on foreign oil, and one valid solution to this problem is offshore oil drilling and production. America’s economy is heavily based on petroleum, as though it is the nation’s blood; a necessity for survival. About 25% of oil produced in the U.S. comes from offshore rigs. Most of the U.S. coastline has been off limits for oil drilling since the early 1980s. Due to environmental concerns after an oil spill off the coast of California in 1969, an offshore drilling moratorium was imposed. Since then, the U.S. has amplified its energy consumption to where it uses nearly 25% of the world's oil. Meanwhile, the U.S. produces about 10% of the world's oil. That has made the U.S. heavily reliant on imported
United States oil production surged between 2008 and 2015 and few states have benefited as
Figure xxx illustrates the historical data on oil and gas production in NZ, Norway, and the UK. It is evident that Norway’s production is the largest, while NZ production is the lowest. However, it seems that NZ’s production has been relatively stable at around 40 thousand barrels per day since 2000, while the North Sea countries’ production except Norway gas production tend to decline since 2000.
British Petroleum or BP is among the six largest oil and gas companies in the world with a large multinational presence. BP is a British multinational organization with headquarters in London, England, and that pursues commercial interests throughout the world. BP has a strong global presence due to its production and marketing operations in several regions of the world. The global operations of BP comprise a large geographical area due to the effective vertical integration of the organization in all sectors of the oil and gas industry. This organization is relatively gigantic as compared to other organizations of this industry and that is why several stakeholders trust its viability. BP manages operations in exploration, drilling, refining, production, distribution, and marketing of oil and oil based products including petroleum products. Although BP is a British organization, a large portion of the revenue of the company depends on foreign locations. BP relies on several international regions for achieving strategic objectives including the United States, Africa, Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. BP faces several cultural issues due to its interactions with stakeholders in various geographical locations.
A lot Scientists and oil field experts have been collecting facts and scientific evidences to try to predict the period at which peak oil will occur. Two of the scientists working toward this discovery are Colin J. Campbell and Jean H laherre. Those two scientists wrote an article about the aftermath s of the 1970 's oil embargo sppured reachees over the decline of oil, which resulted in erroneous conclusions due to various factors (78). In order to truly cast light on the issue of oil decline, Campbell and Laherrère merged a variety of techniques which comprise the examination of “the decline of aging fields” and “the diminishing returns on exploration in larger regions”, the extrapolation of the size
The world’s largest producer of crude oil is Russia producing more than 5.3 million barrels per day (Barden 2017). The history of Russia’s oil industry started in the 16th
World oil demand is increasing as emerging economies need more energy to increase their living standards. Estimates, shown below, are that by 2030, China and India as emerging markets will import over 70% to 90% of their fossil fuel needs (1) . Coupled to a continued high and growing demand for oil, makes this a robust market for the next 30 years.
Just as the business of oil and gas exploration and production is capital and human intensive (Johnson, 2006), so is the risk. The human risk is underscored by the high fatality rate experienced in the sector (Mode & Conway, 2008), which by far is greater than that of other industries like construction, automobiles and the general industry within the period of 2003 to 2013 (Cole, 2003). With the advancement in the oil and gas exploration technology, more companies are investing in even more unconventional methods of exploration and operations activities, like drilling in the deep offshore, exploring in the deserts and harnessing the shale technology to produce oil and gas which where hitherto trap within the
Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline. The concept is based on the observed production rates of individual oil wells, and the combined production rate of a field of related oil wells. The aggregate production rate from an oil field over time usually grows exponentially until the rate peaks and then declines—sometimes rapidly—until the field is depleted. This concept is derived from the Hubbert curve, and has been shown to be applicable to the sum of a
Due to complications in gaining access to risk capital and lack of expertise wanted for resource exploration and production, most developing nations with oil and gas reserves grant development right to foreign companies, which have adequate expertise, technology and capital to fund the project including the capabilities to manage