Energy, Power & Infrastructure Industry Update - November 2018

Energy | U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas Poised for ‘Biggest Year Ever’

“The approaching 2019 will be the most significant year ever for the U.S. liquefied natural gas export business. Next year really is: "the beginning of the boom.“ The U.S. is poised to triple export capacity to around 10 Bcf/d by the end of next year, and we could be on our way to be the world's largest exporter before 2025. And in a "second wave" of activity, federal regulators will decide the fate of an additional 13 pending projects by the end of 2019. For an industry that just started in February 2016, U.S. LNG has quickly been extending to all corners of the globe. Our prospects are obviously bright for the long-term. EIA projects that U.S. gas production will grow at nearly twice the rate of U.S. demand, leaving a huge surplus available for exportation. We could up domestic output by 60 Bcf/d over the next 20 years, a 70% gain from today. We will be looking East: Asia LNG demand is expected to rise 70% by 2030. The chance to gain customers will be a constant process: since 2008, the average LNG contract term globally has dropped from almost 20 years to less than five. Global gas demand will continue to soar, perhaps surpassing oil to become the world's main fuel within 10 years. ”

Forbes

Oil & Gas | Perfect Storm Has Hit the Oil Market

“The perfect storm has hit the oil market. According to  one industry executive, “I think it’s been a bit like the perfect storm has hit the oil market. It’s not just the change in tone from the United States in terms of the sanctions, it’s the normal downturn in demand at this time of year because of turnarounds, refineries doing maintenance work, the U.S. has jumped up in terms of production, so I think a number of factors have hit the oil market,” the executive added. The IHS Markit representative stated in the interview that oil demand’s growth is still going up strongly. With around 1.5 million barrels per day of growth this year, industry executives expect a similar amount next year.”

Rigzone

Utilities | Can the Electricity Industry Seize its Resilience Movement?

“A slate of natural disasters that reads like a roll call — Willa, Michael, Harvey, Irma, Maria, Florence and Thomas — has forced a serious conversation about resiliency. And though utilities have heard a lot about resiliency as a “hot topic” at industry events and meetings, those conversations are only now entering the control room. Resilience discussions come and go in the energy industry. Storms like Hurricane Sandy and Matthew can spur a nationwide focus on resiliency, but change is largely concentrated in local areas that experienced the disaster. After a few news cycles, the topic fades into the background. However, experts agree that resilience is becoming much more important to year-round utility planning and operations. It's not a fad. Utilities say they are taking a holistic approach that will incorporate a wide range of technologies and grid-management practices. For many, those improvements can’t come fast enough.”

Green Tech Media

Oil & Gas | U.S. Expected to Produce Half of Global Oil and Gas Growth by 2025

“Relentless American shale development is set to allow the U.S. to leapfrog the world’s other major oil and gas producers, with the potential for the country to account for roughly half of global crude and natural growth by 2025 according to the International Energy Agency. In its annual World Energy Outlook report, the IEA said its main projection scenario through to 2040 foresees the U.S. accounting for nearly 75% and 40% of global oil and gas growth, respectively, over the next six years. Growth is expected to be driven primarily by shale fracking, which should lead U.S. shale oil supply to more than double, reaching 9.2 million barrels a day by the mid-2020s, the agency said. By 2025, nearly every fifth barrel of oil and every fourth cubic meter of gas in the world come from the United States.”

WSJ

Engineering & Construction | Drones Give Inspectors a Closer Look at Bridges

“One industry executive compares bridge inspections to taking his kids to the doctor. But like parents who don’t want to send kids to the doctor at the first sign of a sniffle, once managers understand the characteristics of a bridge and its behavior, they don’t need to do constant in-depth reinspections. They are constantly looking for ways to make better decisions with the data they already have. Drones are part of the answer. Used for an asset like a bridge, the technology can also help inspectors connect multiple data sets to the infrastructure asset, giving engineers the ability to monitor changing conditions over time. Each asset and its data easily can be recalled by name, location and date. There are scores of improved or new techniques available or in testing. DIC is a noncontact, nondestructive photographic monitoring technique that measures full-field strains and displacements using pattern recognition and photogrammetric triangulation principles. For bridge monitoring, DIC provides additional advantages as it is portable and does not require wiring or an installed on-site data acquisition system.”

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