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The Energy Boom

The Menashe Morley Group
Published

The Energy Boom

The world runs on energy; the cheaper the better.   Abundant, inexpensive energy can transform economies and change the geopolitical landscape in ways few can easily predict. All you need do is look at history and how low cost, abundant oil changed the Middle East.

Oil transformed our lives from its earliest use, as kerosene lamps replaced whale oil and candles as the primary light source in the late 1800’s.   But innovators quickly developed new uses for the fuel — the internal combustion engine. That led to the automobile, followed by aircraft, diesel engines, and power generators. These innovations made oil and natural gas one of the most useful fuels available creating new wealth and prosperity. Along with coal, it ushered in the most powerful economic transformation the world has ever seen, lifting millions out of poverty and drudgery and making the comforts we now enjoy possible.   It is impossible to diminish the positive effects such a low cost abundant fuel caused.

Today, we are undergoing another transformative phase in our energy quest. With technological breakthroughs in horizontal drilling and fracking, oil and natural gas resources have become abundant again. The new flow of energy out of the Bakken Field in North Dakota has grown so rapidly it has overwhelmed the infrastructure capable of delivering it to refineries.[1] Producers have turned to railroads for transportation until more pipelines can be laid. Texas, Colorado and Pennsylvania, where other shale formations have proven fruitful, are experiencing booms of their own.

The domino effect of the boom can be seen across support industries. Steel for pipe, railroads for transportation, trucks for hauling, heavy equipment for building, and on and on. In regions like North Dakota, average incomes have risen sharply as labor shortages even in unskilled jobs have forced employers to pay more to attract workers.[2]

While the merits of global warming, or climate change, will be debated by environmental groups, industry groups, and politicians for years to come, economies that have abundant inexpensive energy from whatever source reap the rewards of attracting industry and the jobs they bring.

As global energy demand continues to grow, the push for energy, whether solar, wind, oil, or natural gas, also grows and presents opportunities for investors.   Whether you like clean energy or carbon based, you have choices.   Infrastructures must be built, products developed and new more advanced technologies will be forged as this transformation plays out.

The energy transformation is just one of several trends we see shaping the investment landscape in the decades ahead. Talk with your financial advisor about the diverse opportunities this change can present for your financial future.

The Menashe Morley Group
The Menashe Morley Group

The Menashe Morley Group: David Menashe is a Senior Vice President and Wealth Management Advisor, and Bruce Morley is a First Vice President and Wealth Management Advisor and John Naviaux is a Financial Advisor for Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, a registered broker-dealer, Member SIPC, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation. Investment products are not FDIC insured, are not bank guaranteed, may lose value. The Menashe Morley Group can be reached at 858-381-8113.

[1] “U.S. Rail Transportation of Crude Oil: Background and Issues for Congress” CRS Report. 5 May 2014.

[2] “Oil Boomtown Williston, N.D., Looks for a Stable Future” Wall Street Journal. 1 April 2014.

 

Photo by Andy Templeton

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