Back in the early 2010s, U.S. crude oil and NGL exports were minimal and LNG exports were non-existent, but there were omens that the U.S. would soon regain its status as an energy production juggernaut. Now the U.S. is a critically important global supplier of oil, gas and NGLs, with exports crucial to managing supply and demand as infrastructure rushes to keep up and industry players simultaneously explore alternative energy possibilities. How all these moving parts interconnect was the focus of RBN’s 18th School of Energy last week and it’s the subject of today’s RBN blog, which — fair warning! — is a blatant advertorial for School of Energy Encore, our newly available online version of the recent, action-packed conference.
RBN’s annual School of Energy is a deep dive into the workings of the U.S. energy industry and what energy professionals need to know about it. Not everyone can attend, of course — folks are busy as heck nowadays — so we’ve made it a practice to create videos for all of our presentations so those who couldn’t be there don’t miss out.
This year we lead off School of Energy in Module 1 with an overview of what’s currently driving surging infrastructure investment across crude oil, natural gas and NGL markets — pipelines, processing plants, fractionators, storage facilities, export terminals and more — by our count, 70 projects are in progress or planned. Throughout the Shale Revolution era, burgeoning supply fueled the buildouts as midstreamers rushed to keep up and also incorporate future expansion options as they did. But the unceasing production increase that characterized the previous decade has begun to stall (as we described in Never Been Any Reason) and there is a growing sense that production growth may be more modest in the years to come as producers look to maintain production levels long-term. So what’s driving the continued infrastructure buildout?
Energy infrastructure targets capacity constraints — those that exist now or are anticipated later — and a big factor is location, location, location. Gas production hiccups have largely been in the dry gas basins without much NGLs, like the Haynesville and Appalachia, while associated gas production continues to rise in the crude- and NGL-heavy Permian. Understanding those differences — and opportunities — by commodity and by region is key in navigating production, infrastructure, exports, processing, refining, and renewables.
And that last — renewables — will have to fit into an evolving energy landscape that pulls on all sources of energy to help meet future demand. We’ll talk climate goals and how the only way to achieve them is to bridge the chasm between renewables and traditional hydrocarbons by investing in a diverse portfolio of energy supplies. Just as hydrocarbons are inextricably linked to each other, so are they tied to decarbonized and sustainable fuels. So, we take you through the fundamentals of those markets and what makes them tick.
But one of the things that sets School of Energy apart from other conferences is that we don’t cruise along in the clouds at 30 thousand feet. Instead, we’ll take you down into energy fundamental models to analyze data useful in addressing energy market business problems and decisions. We equip you with Microsoft Excel models and detailed instructions of how to use them, all with the latest updates that reflect recent trends. These include production economics, forecasting and more in what is our largest School of Energy offering ever. In addition to our live sessions over two days last month, we’ve provided a plethora of take-home content and models to keep that energy market fundamentals analysis going so you can see what infrastructure gets built, what trades get done and what brings in profits.
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About the song
"A Change Is Gonna Come" was written By Sam Cooke and appears as the first song on side two of Sam Cooke's eleventh and final studio album, Ain't That Good News. Cooke wrote the song after he and his entourage were turned away from a whites-only motel in Louisiana while touring the South in 1963. The song, about struggles surrounding racial inequality, along with Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind," became anthems for the civil rights movement in the 1960s. The recording has a dark cinematic quality to it, largely due to the lush string and horn arrangements by Cooke's arranger, Rene Hall. Recorded in January 1964 at RCA Studios in Hollywood with production by Hugo and Luigi, the single was released in December 1964 and went to number nine on the Billboard Top R&B and number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles charts. The only time Cooke performed the song live was on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson in February 1964. It was overshadowed by The Beatles appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show two days later. Sam Cooke was shot to death at a Los Angeles motel two weeks before the song was released. In 2007, the song was preserved by the Library of Congress with the National Recording Registry for its cultural, historical, and aesthetic importance. Personnel on the record were: Sam Cooke (lead vocals), SA Crain, Paul Foster, Jimmie Outler, Richard Gibbs, JJ Farley (backing vocals), Rene Hall, Norman Bartold, Arnold Belnick, Clifton White (guitar), Chuck Badie (bass), Earl Palmer (drums), Harold Battiste (piano), Emil Radocchia (marimba, timpani, percussion), and an eleven-piece string section and four-piece horn section.
Ain't That Good News was recorded between February 1963-January 1964 at RCA Music Center of the World Studio in Hollywood. Produced by Hugo and Luigi, it was released in February 1964 and went to number 34 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. It would be Sam Cooke's final album released during his lifetime. Five singles were released from the LP.
Sam Cooke was an American singer and songwriter and is considered one of the greatest soul artists of all time. Cooke started his professional career with The Soul Stirrers gospel group in 1950. His first pop single was "Loveable," released in 1956 under the alias, "Dale Cook." His first hit record came with "You Send Me," which went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1957. He has released 14 studio albums, two live albums, 13 compilation albums, and 49 singles, some posthumously. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Songwriters Hall of Fame, National Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame, won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Cooke died in Los Angeles in December 1964 from a gunshot wound at the age of 33. His death is still shrouded in mystery and controversy as to what happened.
