By Brai Odion-Esene, SW4 Insights for Mace News
WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – Cost-effective and efficient energy delivery is essential to growing the United States’ clout in the global energy markets, as well as reducing costs for domestic consumers, the Trump administration’s top energy official said Thursday.
“It’s been a difficult time for the (energy) industry,” Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said in remarks during the department’s 2020 Natural Gas Summit. He highlighted the need to address what he described as an “infrastructure problem, as well as the public policy issues.”
His assessment was echoed by American Petroleum Institute CEO Mike Sommers, who noted that because energy demand has been cut so much, “the industry is hurting.”
Brouillette said the U.S. energy industry struggled with a “production problem” in the past, citing the high costs associated with finding and extracting fossil fuels.
While technological advances such as hydraulic fracturing have turned America into a net energy exporter, “what is [now] challenging the industry is an infrastructure problem,” Brouillette argued. “We need more pipelines, we need more export facilities.”
Reducing what he considers to be bureaucratic obstacles is one of the solutions. “We have to improve our permitting processes so that we can allow this infrastructure to be built more quickly, more efficiently,” he said.
The administration will work more aggressively to get that done, Brouillette continued, adding that it would ultimately boost job creation and expand economic opportunity.
Furthermore, the lack of adequate infrastructure is one reason some Americans are paying too much for energy, he opined. “What we are doing by not building out the infrastructure across the country, is we are denying consumers access to that cheap energy,” the Energy Secretary said.
Also speaking at the event was Larry Kudlow, director of President Trump’s National Economic Council, and he argued that there is no reason not to pursue an “all-of-the-above” energy policy – as opposed to choosing between fossil fuels or renewable energy.
“President Trump has put a premium on energy, and energy dominance or energy independence … and he will continue to do so,” Kudlow said. If elected for a second term, he said the president will continue to pursue a deregulatory agenda to support the energy industry’s growth.
Brouillette agreed, saying the administration’s approach will continue to be supporting all forms of energy production as they all go hand-in-hand.
In terms of the ramifications outside U.S. borders, Brouillette said U.S. energy production now provides President Trump and future leaders with foreign policy options “that they haven’t had in many, many years.”
Now, geopolitical events – such as recent tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia – are less likely to push prices up to exorbitant levels – “I can’t overstate the importance of this particular industry,” he added.
He predicted that global demand for fossil fuels, and natural gas specifically, will continue to improve and grow at rates that will surprise many. While the COVID-19 pandemic has depressed energy demand and brought down prices, resulting in less production, “that’s going to return very, very quickly,” Brouillette predicted.
“As we look down the road …10, 20, 30, 40 years from now, the world is still going to be using fossil fuels, and natural gas in particular,” he said. “We want to be a very strong economic player in that growth, in that future demand.”
In particular, foreign markets for liquefied natural gas – like India – represent a huge opportunity for U.S. industry, and will bolster energy security for European countries relying on Russia, “so we are working on that score,” Brouillette said.
—
Contact this reporter: brai@macenews,com.
Content may appear first or exclusively on the Mace News premium service. For real-time email delivery, contact tony@macenews,com. Twitter headlines @macenewsmacro.