"Gore's anti- fossil fuel initiatives may very well put the final nail in the coffin for this sector."
John,
I have to disagree with your comment on two points. First, you don't seem to realize what the Clinton/Gore initiatives have actually done. The most spectacular was the implementation of FERC 636, which deregulated NG, and broke the hold gas transporters had over producers, in interstate transportation. That is the direct reason the NG usage is growing at over 2% a year. If you think things are tough in the patch now, imagine what they would be if there was not the growing demand for NG. Also recall the the Clean Air and Clean Water acts were signed into law by Republican Presidents. The trend to decrease harmful emissions will continue, but they won't kill the industry. New technology comes along to meet the requirements. We are on the verge of designer fuels, and gas to liquids advances which will meet all the requirements, and which will strengthen demand for fossil fuels. (I'm counting NG, coal, and maybe methane as fossil fuels.) Even if battery operated cars ever became practical, (a big if), where do you think the energy comes from to charge them? The electric companies, the overwhelming majority of which burn fossil fuels. It may be cleaner, but it's not more efficient.
Second, often comments such as yours are politically motivated, but most folks on this thread are too knowledgeable to be frightened into panic over the idea that a politician will destroy the oil and gas industry. If a person lets politics guide his investments, he will not make much money. One is the real world, and the other is fantasy.
Mike from La. |
