Rayola Dougher
American Petroleum Institute
By: Henry Bostic
    
                          
Exciting new finds of oil and natural gas in the U.S. paint a rosier picture of energy independence as well as opportunities for economic development and new sources of revenue for state and local governments, an economic expert with the American Petroleum Institute told Charlotte Rotarians on Tuesday.
 
New technology for extracting both oil and natural gas from certain types of shale, a sedimentary rock composed of mud, coupled with a higher price for crude oil and natural gas have made production of both oil and natural gas from shale price competitive, said Rayola Dougher, senior economic advisor of the American Petroleum Institute.
 
The Marcellus Shale in the Appalachian basin in the states of Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia and Ohio is a huge new source of natural gas, Rougher said, the equivalent of a 100 year supply. The Marcellus Shale not only promises to move the U.S. closer to independence in meeting it needs for natural gas but also promises to be an economic boon to the U.S. economy and to the states involved as leases are executed and royalties paid.
 
A similar economic boon is taking place out west in North Dakota and Montana where oil is being extracted from shale, Dougher said. Oil companies large and small are investing millions of dollars in new wells. Some believe new technology and high oil prices will bring long term stability to the North Dakota oil patch.
 
Experts estimate that there are 400 billion barrels of oil in the Bakken Shale in western North Dakota, which dwarfs the reserves in Saudi Arabia, she said. That bodes well for the United States, Dougher said, even though the use of oil and natural gas in the country has dipped recently mostly as a direct result of the economic downturn, but longer term estimates are that even in 2035 the U.S. will be consuming oil and natural gas in about the same quantities as now.
 
The country's current energy needs are supplied primarily by oil (37 percent), natural gas (24 percent) and coal (22 percent) along with nuclear at 9 percent and renewal sources (water, wind and solar) at 8 percent.
 
Oil is mostly used for vehicle transportation - some 250 million barrels annually. Most of the natural gas goes to heating homes while most of the coal is used to produce electricity. These trends continue to 2030 and beyond. Dougher noted that even if a new technology were developed to power vehicles, it would take well beyond 2030 for it to be developed and efficiently replacing oil power vehicles.
 
Dougher made a strong pitch for off shore oil and natural gas production. "There's a lot of potential there for energy independence from the Middle East," she said. In addition, new technology in the form of drilling to depths of 85,000 feet, horizontal drilling, and the use of grouped well on the ocean floor make production less of an environmental hazard.
The API spokesman noted that offshore production accounts for about 1 percent of all the ocean oil spills and that drilling rigs sustained a lot of damage during hurricanes Katrina and Rita but there were not oil spills.
 
She encouraged Rotarians to support offshore drilling for oil and natural gas, calling it a potential boon to the state's economy. In the U.S. today there are 9 million jobs directly related to oil and natural gas which represent about 7.5 percent of the nation's gross domestic product. In North Carolina, there are 146,000 related jobs and oil and natural gas represents about 3 percent of the states GDP.
 
As a point of reference, the world economy uses about 85 million barrels of oil annually and the U.S. is by far the largest user at 19 million barrels. As a result, Dougher said, "there are lots of threats to oil everywhere."
She also noted that since 1970 the control of the world's oil has moved from the hands of private companies to nationalized oil companies.
   
 
Head Table: Charlie Williams, Wes Sturges, John Snyder, Natalie English, Sammy Black, Alice Harrison;
Invocation: Marilynn Bowler;
Visitors & Guests: Tom Hutchins; Health & Happiness: Harriman Jett; Song: Matt Ryan; Piano: Thomas Moore; Photos: Bert Voswinkel

• Rotarians on the mend: John Johnson and Richard Bailey remain under medical care following their surgery; Bill Bartee had knee surgery on Monday; Henry Bostic had abdominal surgery in February.
    
• The club's current Ambassadorial Scholar, Shepherd Daniel, is assigned to Chili and fortunately was visiting friends in Ecuador during last week's earthquake; Mark Markanda, Charlotte East Rotary, will lead a project discovery trip to South Africa during May. If you would be interested in making this trip with Mark, please notify the Rotary office.
   
• Roster updates: Gregg Walker: greggwalker@carolina.rr.com; Doug Bean: dbean5@bellsouth.net.
  
• Charlotte International Cabinet is seeking nominations for the Mayor's International Community Awards. Foreign and non-foreign candidates that have had an impact philanthropically and internationally will be recognized at the MICA luncheon May 10th at the Westin. For additional information, criteria, etc., contact Dale Gillmore (dgillmore@boatsmangillmore.com) or the Charlotte International Cabinet office (cic@charlottenc.gov).
      
• The next Flight of Honor is scheduled for April 10th. For those not familiar, FOH is a District-wide project to fly WW II Veterans to Washington on a day-trip to visit their memorial. Charlotte Rotary was a generous supporter of two previous flights. Anyone wishing to make a personal donation to this project can make their check payable to Rotary Flight of Honor and send to the Rotary office.
  
• ROTARY DISTRICT CONFERENCE 2010 will be held in Wilmington April 23-25. All Rotarians and their families are invited to attend. Reservations can be booked at the Hilton Riverside, 910-763-5900. Prior to March 22, the rate will be $169 per night. Conference registration rates for Rotarians: $175 (by 2/23), $195 (by 3/22) or $225 (by 4/16). Guest registration: $155 (by 2/23), $175 (by 3/22), $195 (by 4/16). The registration covers 4 meals: Friday dinner, Saturday breakfast & dinner, and Sunday breakfast. Registration can be handled on the District database (www.dacdb.com) 

Of the things we think, say or do

1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?