Posted on 12/10/2014 5:30:27 AM PST by thackney
The world’s energy markets will change dramatically in around 2020, when North America shifts from a major energy importer to an important fuel source for the world’s middle class, according to Exxon Mobil Corp.’s annual energy forecast.
The Irving, Texas-based company’s report predicted that global energy demand would by grow 35 percent through 2040, driven by 2 billion new people and the rise of an energy-hungry middle class in developing countries. The report also outlined how supply growth in North America and global efficiency gains, would be critical to meeting the future’s energy needs.
Exxon’s vision of the future was mostly unchanged from the previous year’s forecast despite a recent drop in oil prices. That drop has removed about 35 percent of the value of a barrel of oil and appears to be leading to an at least short-term curtailment of U.S. oil production growth. Executives at Exxon did not discuss oil prices in the Tuesday presentation.
Exxon predicted that long-term demand would rise significantly as consumers in developing nations began to close the gap with peers in more developed countries. Energy demand in the more developed countries included in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is expected to remain flat or fall slightly.
“The demand for energy continues to be driven by two things: people and progress,” said Bill Colton, a planning executive at Exxon. ”Billions of people in these emerging markets are going to rise into the middle class, propelling a nearly 70 percent increase in their energy demand.”
The increasing demand will be fed by production gains in a number of areas, most dramatically North America. Efficiency gains will also play an important role in mitigating the amount of fuel needed to run the world, Exxon said.
North America is expected to become a net exporter of liquids by 2020 as production from tight oil, natural gas liquids and oil sands grows.
Much of this oil could be shipped abroad as the Asia and Pacific region sees demand for liquids grow quickly. Exxon’s predictions show the Asia Pacific region’s net imports rising by nearly 80 percent through 2040.
North America is also expected to see strong gains in natural gas production as the fuel becomes more important to the global economy. Unconventional gas production in the region is expected to triple by 2040 and North America is expected to become the largest gas-producing region in the world.
This gas will increasingly be needed to meet the growing demand in Asia, where demand is expected to climb by about 170 percent. The mismatches between producing and consuming regions will fuel a large, international natural gas trade, Exxon said.
“By 2040, more than 50 percent of the world’s natural gas demand will be met by LNG shipments or inter-regional pipelines,” Colton said.
The switch toward natural gas — which Exxon projects will eclipse coal as a fuel source and account for more than a quarter of global energy use by 2040 — will also help global carbon dioxide emissions peak in 2030 before beginning to decline.
Exxon expects developed countries will see emissions fall by around 25 percent while emerging markets will see emissions rise by as much as 50 percent through 2040. Emissions per person are projected to remain much higher in developed countries.
Exxon also projected that sources of renewable energy are expected to grow quickly through 2040 but will remain a small provider of total energy. Solar energy is expected to be the fastest-growing source of energy with an annual average growth rate of 5.8 percent, compared to coal’s annual average growth of only 0.1 percent. But by Exxon’s figures, renewable sources of energy remain a small player in the industry.
“Renewables will continue to be challenged both by their high costs and the fact that they can’t produce energy on demand,” Colton said.
After the presentation, Exxon’s executives briefly addressed a new analysis by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin suggesting that estimates of U.S. shale reserves and ultimate production capacity might be overstated.
The company said it is confident in its strong reserve estimates and high production figures.
Obama “You can’t drill your way to lower oil prices, Drill baby drill is just plain wrong”
Fracking Debunks Obama’s ‘We Can’t Drill Our Way Out’
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/120314-728986-fracking-proves-we-can-drill-our-way-to-low-prices-and-independence.htm
Back in 2006, for example, then-Sen. Obama said expanded drilling in the Gulf of Mexico would only “lull the American people into thinking that we can drill our way out of our energy problems.”
When he ran for president in 2008 while gas prices spiked, he mocked John McCain’s call for more drilling. “This is one emergency we can’t drill our way out of,” he said.
After the BP oil spill in 2010, Obama explained that “the reason you never heard me say ‘Drill, baby, drill’ (is) because we can’t drill our way out of the problem.” He went on to claim that “easily accessible oil has already been sucked up out of the ground.”
In 2011, while pushing to end oil industry tax breaks, Obama claimed: “If we’re serious about addressing our energy problems, we’re going to have to do more than drill.”
In 2012, when running for re-election, the president declared: “Even if we drilled every square inch of this country right now, we’re going to be relying on other countries for oil.”
And when he unveiled his “all of the above” energy strategy, Obama lectured the country about how “there’s a problem with a strategy that only relies on drilling, and that is America uses more than 20% of the world’s oil. If we drilled every square inch of this country ... we’d still have only 2% of the world’s known oil reserves.” He added: “We’ve got a math problem here.”
Turns out, it’s Obama who has the math problem.
The proof is in, for every demented left wing propaganda believer to see, they were deceived utterly and completely, these same dopes are the ones that show up to lecture you on global warming
He was TWICE elected president.
Explain and discuss, please.
Number of the Week: Half of U.S. Lives in Household Getting Benefits
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2012/05/26/number-of-the-week-half-of-u-s-lives-in-household-getting-benefits/
May 26, 2012
He was TWICE elected president.
Explain and discuss, please.
Simple.
He LIED (as in 'Hope and Change'), CHEATED (as in widespread voter fraud), and BULLIED (as in IRS intimidation of conservative groups) his way into the office.
Now imagine if we release ANWR, build the Alaskan Natural Gas pipeline with all the gas associated with 40 years of North Slope oil production. Further imagine if the idiots in California actually allowed drilling on and off-shore.
Who cares about the prices.
More oil from here means we can wean our allies off of Arab oil as well.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.