As the world's population continues to grow, populations demand more fuel to grow their countries' economies. Fortunately, energy resources are abundant, as is the opportunity for success. The challenge is to build sufficient infrastructure that supplies the fuel these growing markets so desperately need.
"To the extent that we are slow in getting our infrastructure done efficiently, if the costs are onerous or uncompetitive, we lose out on the opportunity," said Russell Girling, president and CEO of TransCanada Corp.
Girling said it is "quite evident" to him the demand for energy is going to continue to grow, and as North America has stalled development of infrastructure due to regulatory issues and concerns raised by environmentalists, other countries have snatched up market shares.
Addressing delegates on a panel titled "Building Tomorrow's North American Infrastructure" at CERAWeek by IHS Markit, held recently in Houston, Girling argued impeding North American infrastructure development is of no benefit to the environment.
"North America has higher standards than most of the rest of the world that produces these resources. And in fact, by us not participating ⦠we've actually seen the opposite," he said.
Other countries' standards, he said, "give less care and attention to human rights and the environment in all aspects of energy development," including its delivery, than North America's.
"So it has been a squandered opportunity not just for us but for the whole world, if we don't get the infrastructure built finally and in an efficient manner," Girling said.
Steven Kean, president and CEO of Kinder Morgan, agreed with Girling's defense of the North American energy industry's efforts to develop infrastructure in a safe and responsible manner.
"It is a great thing for America and North America that we have this resource base that we do, and that we've been able to turn ourselves from a net importer of energy into a net exporter -- and now across multiple commodities," Kean said. "It helps improve the prospects of people not only in America but around the world. Human progress and the opportunity to have a better life is very much correlated to our access to affordable energy and our ability to use it in increasing quantities and more efficiently all the time."
Improving economies through infrastructure
According to Kelcy Warren, CEO and chairman of the board of directors for Energy Transfer Partners, building the Dakota Access pipeline in the Bakken region had its share of challenges "because nobody had really contemplated hydrocarbons being discovered in those areas they were being discovered in."
Regardless, Energy Transfer Partners embarked on its ambitious goal to build the pipeline from North Dakota to the refining market on the Gulf Coast.
"And we were successful," Warren said. "We are very proud of that project. We had our issues, but the pipeline is flowing with [approximately] half-a-million barrels a day and growing." Warren pledged Bakken oil producers can continue to compete with producers in the Permian, Delaware and other areas.
"The results that we expected have in fact occurred. Rig counts in the Bakken have increased dramatically," Warren added. "The economy in North Dakota has improved dramatically. All those things are tangential benefits to what we were doing as capitalists, which is trying to profit from an investment. But still, it makes us proud."
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