Energy: What Has Changed?

Hey, remember when oil prices were high and a Texas oilman was in the White House? What happened back then? Oil and gas companies did a shitload of drilling. What did they find? A shitload of oil and gas.


Fast forward to today, oil prices are moderate and a leftist urban elitist is in the White House. What is happening now? Oil and gas companies are drilling at a modest pace, but still drilling. The only appreciable difference is that US companies have shifted their capital spending drastically away from the US. They are drilling, it would seem, everywhere but the US. This is great news for countries that probably wouldn't have gotten the benefit of energy industry investment if the US was competing seriously for those investment dollars and the jobs that go with it. But we aren't. The US is essentially a no go zone for new capital investment in the energy sector save for projects that are well-underway or already have deep sunk costs.

What are the consequences of this? Two things likely. First, we will have the energy we need to run our economies in the future - we won't run out of oil and gas. Second, although we'll have that energy, it'll have to come from somewhere else. We'll be more reliant on foreign sources of oil for good or ill.