Black & Veatch, a global engineering, consulting, construction, and operations company that is a major player in the oil and gas market, has just-released a new report: 2016 Strategic Directions: Natural Gas Industry Report (see a copy below). The new report tackles market outlooks for the upstream, midstream and downstream segments. One of the sections that caught our eye: power market opportunities, which explores how coal plant retirements and lower operating dispatch costs have moved natural gas to its place as the primary energy source in the United States. Also in the report, the attitudes of those working in the industry is optimistic. But the report authors issue a note of caution: “Yet, this optimism may be masking some substantial warning signs, particularly for upstream and midstream players. Tight controls on capital investments, tied to the low margins inherent in today’s pricing environment, have constrained new projects. Lower crude oil prices have revitalized petrochemical projects in the downstream sector, particularly in international markets, but investors still question long-term viability. This raises a key question for how organizations are, or are not, positioned to take advantage of an eventual pricing correction.” In other words, drillers and pipeline companies shouldn’t be popping the cork on the champagne bottle just yet. Here’s the fifth annual natgas update from B&V…
Black & Veatch, a global engineering, consulting, construction, and operations company that is a major player in the oil and gas market, has just-released a new report: 2016 Strategic Directions: Natural Gas Industry Report (see a copy below). The new report tackles market outlooks for the upstream, midstream and downstream segments. One of the sections that caught our eye: power market opportunities, which explores how coal plant retirements and lower operating dispatch costs have moved natural gas to its place as the primary energy source in the United States. Also in the report, the attitudes of those working in the industry is optimistic. But the report authors issue a note of caution: “Yet, this optimism may be masking some substantial warning signs, particularly for upstream and midstream players. Tight controls on capital investments, tied to the low margins inherent in today’s pricing environment, have constrained new projects. Lower crude oil prices have revitalized petrochemical projects in the downstream sector, particularly in international markets, but investors still question long-term viability. This raises a key question for how organizations are, or are not, positioned to take advantage of an eventual pricing correction.” In other words, drillers and pipeline companies shouldn’t be popping the cork on the champagne bottle just yet. Here’s the fifth annual natgas update from B&V…