A place for business

Having regained the ability to export petroleum products and natural gas, and considering the LNG and downstream plans in the country, companies will choose to make their investments in the US rather than looking to the rest of the world.

During the recent boom years, significant investments were made in developing the USA’s oil infrastructure. As oil prices fell, progress was made in adopting new technologies and gaining operating efficiency. Now, as the industry and commodity prices recover, the USA is well-positioned to attract investors. “As I look around the world, the United States might now be, from a new-capital deployment perspective, one of the best places – if not the best place – to develop new oil and gas,” said Sitton.

This is a new reality for the American oil and gas industry, something not seen in decades. Sitton attributes this change to the shift in the market: “I think we’re in a very different time than we’ve seen in a long, long time because of what the commodity prices have done.” He went on to say that real estate prices in the Permian Basin and operators’ forecasts and strategic plans point to the USA, especially Texas and the Permian Basin, as being the centre of investment activity going forward.

Ryan Sitton is a Texas Railroad Commissioner – find out more about him and the industry on our business intelligence platform www.togyin.com.