VanLoh: US Energy Security Needs ‘Manhattan Project’ Intensity

The energy industry is transitioning—but the shift is more about the global economy, supply and demand and recognizing that natural resources and capital are finite, said Wil VanLoh, founder and CEO of Quantum Capital Group.

Action is needed now to preserve the U.S.’ energy security and dominance, and an ‘all of the above’ strategy is critical, VanLoh said during a keynote speech at the 2025 NAPE Summit on Feb. 5 in Houston.

“As an industry we need to understand, and hopefully as a country we can come together on this, we need to adopt an ‘all the above’ strategy. If we really want to maintain energy dominance and energy security, we generally need a Manhattan Project’s intensity and focus like we had when we developed the atomic bomb in World War II,” he said.

To achieve the dual goals of maintaining energy dominance and energy security in the U.S., four steps—or rather, giant leaps—need to happen.

From the outset, investment in oil and gas must meaningfully increase to boost resource production and infrastructure building.

“It's abundant, it's affordable, it's reliable, it's here in America and we've got to invest as a country,” he said. However, he added, “We've got to have policy that supports this. We've got to have capital markets to support this.”

Next, the U.S. needs to upgrade and expand the grid—which means supporting all forms of power, including gas, wind and solar.

“Look, our grid is ancient. It is falling apart. It's pathetic,” VanLoh said. “It's vulnerable to cyberattack and it just doesn't work. It's not going to be able to carry the electrons [required] as we continue to move to more electricity and less forms of other power. We've got to build new grids to get the power from where it's developed [to] where it's used in the natural gas space.”

The third step is to shore up the nation’s supply chain to produce the critical minerals needed for electric vehicles and the energy transition.

China has a massive head start, he said.

“I don't actually know if we can ever catch [up with China], but we [should] at least be able supply it for ourselves. They will be the OPEC for the next 50 years on that,” he said. “We need to make sure we have our own abilities here.”

The fourth step? The U.S. needs to go nuclear.

“We need to accelerate the role that nuclear plays in the mix. It's a shame that nuclear, when Three Mile Island happened, just took such a hit from the American public opinion,” he said. “It's really the answer. I mean, candidly, nuclear, it's the only form of clean energy that's 24/7, 365 days a year.

“There's no other energy [like] that today.”

The government needs to fast-track reactor designs and cut regulatory red tape to move the projects forward and make the projects less expensive, he said. The cost of building similar facilities in South Korea or China is a third of that in the U.S.—a factor policy can change, VanLoh said. But it could still take years to bring the projects online.

A combination of these steps for an ‘all of the above’ strategy will take time, commitment and investment, he said.

“But on all of these things, we’ve got to start today,” he said.