A Year of Boiling Frogs
For our first PFC Energy Quarterly of 2008, I asked several PFC Energy experts to write about the trends they see for 2008 in the context of the main events of the past year. In the articles that follow you will find their contributions on topics from global geopolitics to upstream, refining, gas and financial markets. But first, a few words from me on 2007 – a Year of Boiling Frogs.
Lew Watts
President and CEO of PFC Energy
Reading Tea Leaves in Washington
With 2008 bringing election uncertainty, faltering economic indicators, and reduced confidence and trust in government, companies will need to make adjustments based on the current state of Washington and its effect on the energy industry.
Economic Concerns Cloud Geopolitics in 2008
The Chinese, Russian, and US economies will bring a year of transition with far reaching implications, especially on regional security and political trends.
E&P Companies Meet the Future, and Many Don’t Like it!
2007 saw the progressive overturn of many conventional wisdoms, while affirming others even more basic. Among them: even after five-plus years of higher oil prices, non-OPEC supply remained largely inelastic, whereas demand for oil was elastic.
Tightness Remains, but Interactions Grow in the World Gas Market
World gas market trends in 2007, while not making headlines or forcing public dialogues, were important in elucidating the dynamics that will define the gas business in the next five to ten years.
Downstream's Challenges in 2008
While 2007 was a positive year for downstream, recent concerns of growing costs and crude demand due to prices could bring a more difficult year for the sector in most markets.
Energy in the Financial Sector: Life “In the Bubble”
Following an extended bull run in 2007, energy will provide another robust year of outperformance and stability to those who understand how the game is changing.
Energy Hubs and Sustainable Economic Development
While most oil and gas producing countries have mastered the art of monetizing reserves, the natural first step in an energy-driven, yet energy independent economic development strategy has been neglected, leaving the economic development potential of the hydrocarbon sector largely unrealized.
