First oil

Just in case you may not be fully aware, we’re in the midst of an oilfield boom. From a recent low of $39.09/bbl in February 2009, the WTI crude oil price has remained above $75 since September 2010. As this editorial was being written, WTI broke the $100 barrier. Similarly, Brent price remained above $82 over the same time period, and had settled at $105 in early July. Natural gas price at the Henry Hub has risen from a low of $1.95/MMBtu in April 2012 to above $4 in April 2013.

Some operators may wish that the WTI price stays above $100, and the Henry Hub price remains consistently above $6, but at such high prices, economic incentives come into play for energy cost-cutting. The high prices also provide the economic conditions for greater substitution of fossil fuels with renewable sources.

The robust health of the industry was evident at the 2013 Offshore Technology Conference, where the attendance reached a 30-year high of 104,800, the second-highest in show history and up 17% from 2012. The other industry conferences, such as the AAPG, EAGE and Canada’s GO EXPO, have also set their individual attendance records.

It is interesting to see the rise of conference attendance in today’s age of instantaneous communication. It is now possible to send a mass email to reach thousands of customers across the world. You can upload a video on YouTube that could be seen by millions of viewers. A Twitter message can instantaneously reach all your followers. Even your phone can alert you to the news of the moment.

Lately, World Oil has been posting oil and gas news on its Facebook page. Our oil and gas news can be targeted to more than three million Facebook users, who have specified petroleum as one of their interests. Even for interests as specific as LNG or drilling fluids, there are thousands of Facebook members.

While the electronic social media have their benefits, including instant access, there is something distant and impersonal about the social interchange.

Perhaps it goes back to our primal heritage as hunter-gatherers, interacting with each other around a campfire. There is an inherent urge for face-to-face, person-to-person exchanges. A trade conference is an excellent opportunity to learn about new technologies, but it is also a valuable venue to renew acquaintances with old friends and former colleagues, as well as make new professional connections. This editorial comment may seem like a plug for trade shows, but I see conferences as an example of how classical forms of communication retain their value.

In the course of communications technology advances, the printing press led to the publishing of pamphlets and then journals. A daily newspaper became an essential form of mass communication in urban centers during the 19th century. As the 20th century progressed, we came to depend on radio and television. U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s fireside chats brought an intimacy that was not possible through newspapers. Now we have instant news via the Internet and continuous access to news via PDAs. Satellite TV can even provide news from such distant sources as India’s Zee TV and Qatar-based Al Jazeera.

One would have expected a new form of communication to replace the old. But, interestingly, each has carved a niche for itself. Of course, the older medium has had to adapt to a narrower space in the communications spectrum. Newspapers and magazines are less useful for instant news, but retain their value in thoughtful analysis. Did you foresee the emergence of talk radio as the new town hall for political discourse?

So, World Oil editors are looking forward to interacting with you through the print issue, website, digital apps, Facebook, Twitter and, especially, classical face-to-face interactions at the upcoming industry conferences.