Odessa oilman Kirk Edwards says the global liquefied natural gas market that developed as a result of Russia’s war against Ukraine will take all the American LNG it can get for decades to come.
Addressing 45 people at a Discover Odessa meeting recently at the Holiday Inn on East 42nd Street, Edwards said natural gas “has become a more acceptable fuel source especially in light of the political situation in Europe where the Europeans quickly went back to natural gas after finding out they couldn’t depend on wind power and solar panels.”
Speaking on “Oil and Gas Are Here to Stay,” he said American LNG shipments will find ready markets for at least 15-20 years not just in Europe but also in Asia and India.
Edwards said natural gas has gained popularity because it’s reliable and clean-burning, adding, “Everybody will want to supply their countries in a greener fashion in the years ahead.”
Discover Odessa is the tourism arm of the Odessa Chamber of Commerce.
With the lasting importance of natural gas assured, Edwards said, a steady supply of oil, coal and nuclear power will also be indispensable because the wind and solar generation of electricity disappears “on days when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine.
“Natural gas-powered generation plants have had to make up the difference on the hot days this summer in Texas and they’ve worked amazingly well,” he said. “Natural gas has come to the rescue.
“It has been the swing component of the Texas grid system.”
However, the Latigo Petroleum Corp. president-CEO was not entirely dismissive of wind and solar power. “I also talked about the need for renewables because it will take an all-of-the-above approach for us to have a good energy future ahead,” he said.
Lauding the Texas Legislature in Austin for providing incentives for the construction of natural gas-fired power plants, Edwards said, “Hopefully there will be more of those ahead because our national security depends on our ability to have a secure energy supply.
“We have been lucky enough over the last 10 years to build up our shale resources and put America in a unique position energy security-wise. But we have to be smart about what we have and keep our Strategic Petroleum Reserve full as opposed to using it as a political tool, which has just happened in the last year or so.”
Edwards said the Biden administration “is playing a political card against the oil and gas industry because they stated when they took the White House that their goal was to rid America of fossil fuels, which they don’t seem to know is not only improbable but impossible based on where the world is today.
“We just have to be smart to know how to handle the cold and hot days ahead.”
