American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2023 - 36

by the end of next year, Adkins predicted,
leaving little or no emergency buffer.
Also, the push for net-zero emissions
will lead to future energy shortages.
Prices will be buoyed further as
TIPRO President Ed Longanecker
(left) pauses with Senator
Ted Cruz, R-Tx. With the
Biden administration threatening
the existence of the oil and
gas industry, Cruz told TIPRO
he and the industry's allies
would continue to fight for the
industry in Washington amid
political antagonism toward independent
producers.
high-tech undertakings proliferate, additional
fossil fuels will be needed to meet
growing power generation demand, Moody
predicted. Alternative energy can contribute
to the energy mix, but is insufficient to
power today's world, he stressed, reviewing
how Russia's invasion of Ukraine alerted
the world to natural gas' value as a bridge
fuel to a green, clean energy future.
More gas will be needed to achieve
lofty emissions goals from a relentless
decarbonization push, Moody said, adding
that net-zero initiatives will cost the country
$3 trillion a year. Although oil and gas
demand will keep rising, environmental,
social and governance policies will combine
with other capital constraints to brunt
future supply growth and push up energy
prices, forecasted Marshall Adkins, managing
director and head of energy at Raymond
James Financial. The trend will
mean years of higher returns and strong
industry performance, he added.
Oil and gas constitutes the best investment
space to occupy, Adkins insisted, as
the curtain closes on an era of cheap energy
amid rising global geopolitical risks. WTI
prices likely will range $80-$100 a barrel
in 2024 as climate change adherents continue
to cast a negative light on oil and gas and
global supply growth slows.
OPEC likely will maximize production
Iran's supply surge tops out and Strategic
Petroleum Reserve releases stop pressuring
prices, Adkins said. Domestic
production soon will follow the declining
rig count, he assessed, and the industry
will confront limitations on its ability
to grow production.
" We are going to have to slow demand
greatly, " Adkins intoned.
Public Policy
Political leaders who addressed TIPRO
encouraged independents to stand up and
be heard. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Tx.,
urged producers to take their case directly
to the American people.
Texas' junior senator said the Biden administration
began work to put independents
out of business during the president's first
week in office when he cancelled the Keystone
pipeline. Ironically, Cruz noted, the
move boosted carbon dioxide emissions
because it meant more Canadian crude was
shipped by truck and train. Biden then
stymied drilling on federal lands and has
worked to curb industry access to capital.
Cruz detailed how he and Senator
Joe Manchin, D-W.V., cosponsored legislation
this year to ban oil sales from
the SPR to Russia, North Korea and
China. Congressional Democrats countered
with an attempt to ban all U.S.
crude exports, he recounted.
" I said we shouldn't sell oil to our
Joining in Texas Governor Greg
Abbott's ceremonial bill signing
of HB 33 at TIPRO's summer
conference are, from left, Representative
Brooks Landgraf,
R-Odessa, Abbott, TIPRO Director
of Government Affairs
Ryan Paylor, TIPRO President
Ed Longanecker and TIPRO
Chairman Jud Walker. Known
as the Texas Energy Independence
Act, HB 33 prevents Texas
agencies from enforcing federal
regulations that violate state
law. The governor also signed
SB 1017, which prohibits cities,
counties and subdivisions from
banning natural gas use in
homes, and diesel and gasoline-powered
engines.
36 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER
American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2023

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