W hether engaging the public sector or effecting legislative reform in the permitting process, challenges pertaining to infrastructure projects have reached critical mass. According to Dr. Daniel Yergin, IHS Markit vice chairman and CERAWeek by IHS chairman, it is the responsibility of pipelines and pipeline companies to meet these challenges and advance these projects.
Participating in a panel focusing on building infrastructure at CERAWeek by IHS Markit held recently in Houston, Daniel Sullivan, a U.S. senator from Alaska, noted it is incumbent upon the U.S. energy industry to “talk about big ideas” in restoring the U.S. infrastructure.
“America used to be the envy of the world in terms of building big projects on time and on budget,” Sen. Sullivan noted. “The Empire State Building was built in 13 months. The Pentagon? Sixteen months.
“The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System crosses three mountain ranges, 34 rivers and hundreds of small streams and took 36 months to build — all done with minimal impact to the environment and literally producing tens of thousands of jobs.
“Today you don’t hear about such triumphs. Instead, in America, you hear about delays as the depiction of decline. A GAO study from 15 years ago found that for federal highways, from initial permitting to final construction took on average from nine to 19 years.”
Nowhere is this problem more critical than in constructing the U.S.’s energy infrastructure, Sen. Sullivan lamented.
“The Keystone XL Pipeline just went through eight years of permitting purgatory under the Obama administration,” he said. “During that same period, Shell Oil spent seven years and $7 billion trying to get our federal government to drill an exploration well in 100 feet of water off the coast of Alaska — something we’ve been doing in Alaska for half a century.”
Nonetheless, Sen. Sullivan is optimistic about the future of the infrastructure construction.
“America is clearly on the cusp of a major energy renaissance that can help revive our economy, create tens of thousands of jobs, spur a revitalization of manufacturing and enhance our national security,” he said, lauding the Trump administration’s desire to partner with the energy industry to “seize the opportunities instead of undermining them.”
Sen. Sullivan will join fellow legislators to introduce the Rebuild America Now Act, which focuses on modernizing and updating the U.S. regulatory permitting system for infrastructure and aiming to make it more efficient, timely and certain.
Al Monaco, president and CEO of Enbridge, echoed Sen. Sullivan’s optimism.
“There is a building momentum in our industry. I like to refer to it as ‘the new energy around energy,’” he said. “Because of cost and technological innovation, we’re emerging stronger than ever, and we’ve never been better positioned in a true North American competitive advantage in energy.”
Monaco considers creating timely access to markets “the biggest issue facing our industry today.” “Industry needs to up its game,” he said.
“I’m not whining about what’s happening, but we do need to get better when it comes to developing and executing projects.”
One of Enbridge’s primary focuses is engaging local communities.
“You need to be able to take advice as a pipeline company from communities and make changes to the project that make it better,” Monaco said.
Monaco stressed the importance of industry and government supporting permitting agencies to “do their job” by applying technical and scientific expertise.
Monaco also said there is a need for U.S. and Canadian governments to look at their respective policies “from taxation and incentives to the environment” through the lens of energy competiveness to unblock the North American energy advantage.
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