Page 32 - MetalForming September 2019

FABRICATION
Energy Market Report
Metal forming and fabricating power the energy sector and, in turn, the entire economy.
BY LOUIS A. KREN, SENIOR EDITOR
From oilfields to outer space, metal formers and fabricators have provided crucial compo-
nents and assemblies for energy cre- ation, storage and use. The cyclical industry remains strong, with plenty of areas where metal shapers can, and do, participate.
Let’s survey the energy landscape to ascertain the current and future eco- nomics, and explore some applications and opportunities.
Energy Sector Driving Current Economy
The robust U.S. economy owes much to substantial success of the
energy sector in recent years, reports Scott Segal, a partner in the Policy Res- olution Group at Bracewell LLP, the strategic communications firm for Met- alForming’s publisher, the Precision Metalforming Association. Here, Segal, having advised clients in the energy sector for three decades, provides expert insight exclusively to Metal- Forming readers on the energy sector and its future movement.
“The technological advances enabling access to natural gas in shale formations have stimulated major investment increases in upstream pro- duction, pipeline and compression infrastructure, and power-generating construction,” he explains. “In 2018, 90 percent of all natural gas used in the United States was produced domes- tically, and for the first time in more than 50 years, U.S. natural-gas pro- duction exceeded consumption.”
This bounty likely will continue for the foreseeable future, Segal says, because even if the country adopts meaningful carbon restrictions, natural gas has 50 percent of the carbon con- tent than the coal it replaces. As a
Owing to robust domestic production, “metal formers and fabricators likely will face strong market conditions for upstream production, pipelines, com- pressor stations and gas-distribution sys- tems,” says Scott Segal, a partner in the Policy Resolution Group at Bracewell LLP. Photo courtesy of Noble Energy
Photo courtesy of Volkswagen
30 MetalForming/September 2019
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