Each January, we look at macroeconomic trends that influence industrial gas markets. These trends—like rising or falling worldwide GDP, geopolitical movements, shifting energy supply and sourcing, and even natural disasters and climate change—influence what products and technologies will be in demand, or perhaps in short supply.
Here we present three significant drivers—Energy, the Industrial Internet, and Sustainability—that we see having the biggest impact on the industrial gas industry and its related technology and equipment markets over the next several years.
The Big Driver Gets Bigger— Energy
Energy continues to present as the single most important factor influencing the economy in the US today. The increased development of both shale gas and shale oil are bringing the US closer to energy independence.
Shale Gas and Oil
US crude oil production (including lease condensate) averaged almost 6.5 million barrels per day in September 2012, the highest volume in nearly 15 years. Most of that increase is due to production from oil-bearing rock with very low permeability through the use of horizontal drilling combined with hydraulic fracturing (eia.gov). According to a report by Texas District Agency (texasda.org), “Expectations are building for America to become the world leader in oil production by 2017 due in part from what some are supposing could be the largest oil play in American history.” The Cline Shale in the Permian Basin is 140 miles long and 70 miles wide. “With approximately 9,800 square miles of Cline Shale, this would amount to over 30 billion barrels of recoverable oil, exceeding both the Bakken fields in North Dakota and the Eagle Ford in Texas by nearly 50 percent,” according to the Agency. Thirty billion barrels is the equivalent of the total amount of crude the US will import over the next nine years at current rates.
... to continue reading you must be subscribed
