CEO’S PERSPECTIVE/
2022 Outlook Encouraging By Leslie Beyer, CEO, Energy Workforce & Technology Council
Members, As the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic continues and the Omicron variant impact remains uncertain, the market is changing quickly. The traditional energy space is now one of the best places for investing, as natural gas and crude oil have been performing well due to inevitable demand. And while we have a way to go before reaching 2019 levels, the outlook for 2022 is encouraging. The industry is on track to generate a large amount of free cash flow from 202123 – as much as was lost during the last decade, according to IHS Markit. ExxonMobil and Chevron are planning to increase drilling in the Permian next year, even as they keep an eye on overall spending. And BP plans to increase investment in onshore U.S. shale and oil to $1.5 billion in 2022, up from $1 billion this year. All of this is welcome news, considering that previously analysts were predicting an uneven recovery in North America, with spending increasing in the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. All of this production will be impacted by governmental policies and legislative action. The recent "Build Back Better" package on Capitol Hill includes many elements to reduce domestic production by adjusting methane fees, increasing royalty rates on new onshore oil and gas leases, and banning new oil and gas leases in federal waters off the entire Pacific and Atlantic costs, as well as the eastern Gulf of Mexico – actions that are all aimed at reducing oilfield production at a time when the United States needs growth the most. Instead of asking OPEC+ to increase production, the President should focus on supporting domestic production and therefore the highly-skilled men and women of the energy services and technology industry. No one in the world produces energy cleaner, safer and more securely than the United States. As President Biden recently said, it’s “just not rational” to move to entirely renewable energy overnight. We know that oil and gas will remain a fundamental part of the energy mix. It’s crucial for investments to continue in the upstream sector because the energy services and equipment industry can be the solution providers in the goal towards a lower carbon future. We are not the enemy; we are the ones that can support the administration's goal of producing energy in a cleaner way. We have the skilled workforce that's needed, and we must ensure that America has ample supplies of both oil and gas for the foreseeable future. The Energy Workforce & Technology Council promotes this message every day, and we are grateful to our members support in this effort.
Leslie Beyer CEO Energy Workforce & Technology Council
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Well Servicing Magazine/December 2021