TPi September 2017

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56 TUBE PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL September 2017
Oil and gas market:
an analysis and how to
steer your way through it
By Barry Rust, energy and sustainability manager, Tata Steel
China’s thirst for energy to fuel its industrial growth has abated
somewhat and is unlikely, in the medium term, to hit those
heady heights experienced in recent years. The rapid growth
of the North American shale industry has added 15 per cent
to recoverable reserves.
While there are suggestions that, after three years,
the downturn in the oil and gas industry may have
bottomed out, the sector remains in a state of flux,
particularly in terms of the supply and demand markets.
The economics of supply and demand (assisted by OPEC’s
production policy) resulted in a 47 per cent decline in Brent
Crude from the summer of 2014 to, in 2016, the lowest
average annual price since 2004.
While OPEC’s recent decision to cap production by 1.2 million
barrels of oil per day has triggered an increase in commodity
prices, it may be that this policy will last no longer than six
months.
Meanwhile, our journey to a lower carbon economy has well
and truly started. As an example, it has been forecast that the
renewable industry’s proportion of global energy generation