49
COMMENT
Who’s who at the
Specialized Carriers
& Rigging Association
CHAIRMAN
Michael Battaini
Sheedy Drayage
San Francisco, CA
PRESIDENT
Ron Montgomery
Intermountain Rigging & Heavy Haul
Salt Lake City, UT
VICE PRESIDENT
Alan Barnhart
Barnhart Crane and Rigging
Memphis, TN
TREASURER
Delynn Burkhalter
Burkhalter
Columbus, MS
ASSISTANT TREASURER
Bruce Forster
Rigging Gear Sales
Dixon, IL
ALLIED INDUSTRIES GROUP CHAIRMAN
David Wittwer,
Hays Companies
Salt Lake City, UT
CRANE & RIGGING GROUP CHAIRMAN
David Cowley,
TNT Crane & Rigging
Longview, TX
LADIES GROUP CHAIRWOMAN
Cathy Moore,
NBIS
Atlanta, GA
TRANSPORTATION GROUP CHAIRMAN
Geary Buchanan,
Buchanan Hauling &
Rigging
Fort Wayne, IN
SC&R FOUNDATION OFFICERS
President:
Robert Moore,
NBIS
Atlanta, GA
Vice president:
Stephanie Bragg,
Bragg Companies
Long Beach, CA
Treasurer:
Jim Sever
PSC Crane & Rigging,
Piqua, OH
T
he U.S. is beginning
to find itself amid
encouraging times
with regard to fuel independence and
the resulting economic impact on both
citizens and transport industries. Two
factors stand out: a surge in fuel-efficient
cars and trucks over the last seven years
– resulting in an 11 percent decrease in
domestic oil consumption – and a 30
percent increase in domestic oil output
since 2008 – largely a result of innovative
gains in drilling technology. In April,
the government reported that U.S. oil
production rose to 7.3 million barrels per
day – the highest level since March of
1992. Poised to establish itself as a major
producer, the U.S. has achieved a level
of fuel discovery and development equal
to an additional injection of four million
barrels of newfound oil provisions per
day into the national supply.
A triple play of sorts is about to create
a shift in this country – with the merger
of greater fuel production, more fuel-
efficient automobiles and ever-evolving
alternative fuel development. In the
shadow of a lingering decade of oil price
increases, this country is set to finally see
some relief. Oil prices are projected to
drop 20 to 30 percent by 2016, landing
somewhere between $65 and $75 per
barrel – a significant decrease from the
$95 per barrel price that we’ve come
to terms with for nearly three years.
Consumers should look for gas prices in
the neighborhood of $3 per gallon as this
triple play begins to reveal its net worth
over the next several years.
We won’t be alone in this transition.
After years of dramatic growth, foreign
demand for oil is also decelerating,
while output rises steadily across the
globe in places like Canada, Africa and
South America. China’s rapid growth has
provoked enormous demand, but has
also elicited environmental regulations,
combined with decreasing fuel subsidies,
that will ultimately inhibit that demand.
Usage will continue to fall across Europe,
as well, in connection with population
growth in urban environments and the
continued presence of slow-growth
economies. The resulting drop in oil
prices certainly leaves room for optimism
in our industry, but it’s not the only
change we should anticipate.
Expecting a shift
As the price tag on petroleum-based gas
and diesel heads in a more comforting
direction, we should also expect a shift
in the biofuels arena, where corn- and
soybean-based ethanol and biodiesel
will become less competitive. Natural
gas usage will swell as a result of the
advancement in drilling technologies.
And liquefied natural gas will replace
diesel as the fuel of choice for countless
trucking fleets within the next three to
five years. As demand for it increases, we
can expect a gradual increase in natural
gas prices internationally.
But we also have to expect that this
transition to cheaper fuel via more
domestic production and fewer gas-
guzzlers on the road won’t come without
a certain amount of instability. Regardless
of the political and economic benefits
the U.S. will enjoy as a result of this fuel
transition, tensions will rise in places like
the Middle East, where there is great risk
of upheaval in regions that are heavily
dependent on oil exports. Geopolitical
dynamics in volatile locations around the
globe will remain unsteady as new players
enter into relationships for fuel with
suppliers whose own economic stability
and political influence have diminished
significantly.
Most policy makers agree that the U.S.
and its allies – particularly its North
American neighbors – would be the
biggest beneficiaries. Many experts
continue to emphasize that, overall, the
U.S. is going to come out a big winner
in the near future, and in a position to
reshape its foreign policy and boost its
global influence.
■
AUGUST 2013
ACT
Fuel production at home
puts the United States
back in the saddle.
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
Joel Dandrea
5870 Trinity Centre
Parkway, Suite 200
Centreville, VA 20120
Ph: 703-698-0291
Fax: 703-698-0297
Encouraging
times
