Game On

The new decade has begun. The ‘teens, we’ll call this, 20 years hence. If the past two decades are any indication, all people touched by the energy industry—consumers, producers, regulators and financiers—will see startling, unpredictable and unprecedented changes. Some will be hoped for, others dreaded; some will be game-changers.

The ’teens are starting out with a bang: more shale-gas plays around the world are poised to emerge. Certainly Papua New Guinea and Australia—maybe even northern Canada—will be producing more liquefied natural gas.

Huge oil finds may be postponing peak oil’s arrival. By the end of the decade, companies may be drilling regularly in Arctic waters, the way they do now in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Brazil, Iraq and Iran will be producing billions more barrels of oil. We hope they do not produce nuclear warheads to protect those reserves.

Will petro-astronauts be drilling on the moon by 2019, shuttling between their lunar man-camp and the Houston suburbs via Richard Branson’s monthly moon flights?

Once home, will they plug their cars into an outlet in the garage?

But first, as the new decade begins, the climate conference in Copenhagen has come and gone. Legislators and protesters have retreated to their dens to plot their next moves.

Conservative American business groups are already planning to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which in December formally declared that greenhouse-gas emissions endanger public health and welfare (the so-called endangerment finding).

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson also announced a related finding that emissions of certain greenhouse gases from motor vehicles contribute to air pollution.

The endangerment finding identifies six air pollutants of concern: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride. The EPA says these endanger public health, alter the climate, contribute to a rise in sea levels, and harm water resources, agriculture, wildlife and ecosystems.

Having issued the findings, EPA has proposed regulations to limit emissions of certain gases from motor vehicles. EPA could propose other regulations in the future; new rules could require any American business that employs at least 250 people to document its greenhouse gases and prepare a plan to reduce its emissions.

“This action poses a threat to every American family and business if it leads to regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act,” said API president Jack Gerard. “Such regulation would be intrusive, inefficient, and excessively costly. It could chill job growth and delay business expansion.

“The Clean Air Act was meant to control traditional air pollution, not greenhouse gases that come from every vehicle, home, factory and farm in America. A fit-for-purpose climate law is a much preferred solution.”

Gerard added that API members are already investing in technology to reduce greenhouse gases. “Between 2000 and 2008, U.S.-based oil and natural gas companies invested $58 billion in low-carbon energy technologies to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, more than either the federal government or all other U.S.-based private industry combined.”

A new study from the University of Burgundy asks us to reflect on what it would mean to move the vaunted Burgundian vineyards, those beautiful rolling hills of green, some 630 miles north to Scandinavia. This is what global-warming trends indicate could happen, according to some scientists. It would probably be good news for Scandinavians eager to take the chill off their northern climes, but the vintners located south of Dijon along the Côte d’Or aren’t eager for the competition.

We have some important editorial “housekeeping” announcements. First, with this issue, we begin a fascinating new series for 2010 called “Industry Icons,” introducing individuals who will play a major role in the direction of the new energy decade, for good or ill. Upcoming profiles will feature academics, energy industry leaders, researchers, politicians, even regulators. We welcome your ideas on who else will influence energy production and consumption to 2019.

Next, the 5th annual Developing Unconventional Gas Conference, DUG 2010, takes place in Fort Worth on March 30 and 31. Building on their past successes, industry leaders involved in developing shales and tight-gas plays will gather again to share perspectives on what needs to happen next to sustain the momentum—on the rig floor, in the pipeline and in Washington, D.C.

For more on the agenda and to register, go to www.hartenergyconferences.com.

Finally, it’s time again to solicit your nominations for the annual Oil and Gas Investor Excellence Awards. Categories include Executive of the Year, M&A Deal of the Year, Best Financing, Best Discovery, Best Corporate Citizen, Best IR Program, and Best Field Rejuvenation. More detail is at OilandGasInvestor.com. Winners will be honored at Energy Capital Week in June.