The answer to the nation’s energy challenge is neither natural gas nor oil nor renewable sources nor energy efficiency.
“We need it all, and we need to discuss the pros and cons of it all,” said Greg Schnacke, executive vice president of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association.
All-inclusive discussions will be the theme of COGA’s annual conference beginning Monday at the Colorado Convention Center. It is expected to draw 2,000 participants.
Schnacke said the conference will address the issue of how effectively renewable energy and alternative fuels can make up for projected declines in natural gas and oil production.
“Everybody wants to talk about transitioning to an alternative energy future,” he said. “But it may really be so distant that it’s a misplaced bet.”
Conference seminars will focus on the Rocky Mountain region’s role in serving national energy needs.
The role has grown in prominence in recent years as formerly big natural-gas producing regions in the Southern U.S. have slowed down, while production in the Rockies is one of the few areas that has increased.
“An important element of the Rockies story is how the region has changed perceptions and surpassed expectations,” said energy researcher Andrew Strachan in the Houston office of energy adviser Wood Mackenzie.
“Ten years ago, the Rockies was not really on the industry’s radar,” he said. “It comes as no surprise to those who have been here making it happen, but the Rockies has surpassed the expectations of many industry observers.”
The Rocky Mountain stature could rise even higher with development of the huge, $4 billion Rockies Express pipeline that will move natural gas from Rocky Mountain fields to consumers in the Midwest, said Tom Petrie, chairman and CEO of Denver energy investment firm Petrie Parkman & Co., who will be a presenter at the conference.
For years, Rockies gas producers have been facing constraints in pipeline takeaway capacity that has kept production from reaching full potential, Petrie said.
That’s been a benefit to Rocky Mountain consumers, because the excess supply has kept prices below national averages. But for producers, lower prices have discouraged investment in exploration and production.
If the new pipeline causes prices to rise, the pain to consumers should be offset by the comfort of producers securing new supplies that will maintain adequate deliveries to customers, Petrie said.
“If we want the advantages of natural gas,” he said, “we have to be willing to pay for it.”
Sections of the Rockies Express run through Colorado and Wyoming. The pipeline will be completed in 2009, but portions of it will open next year.
Staff writer Steve Raabe can be reached at 303-820-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com.
