Topic: "Fracking: Narrative versus Numbers -- is it the end of American energy independence?"

Speaker: David Edick, global political economist and Principal at Core Global Advisory

Fifty years ago, few people in the U.S. paid much attention to things like oil and gas prices and supplies. Supplies were plentiful and the supply chain functioned smoothly. The price of a gallon of gasoline at the pump was less than $0.35, and it had been that way seemingly forever.

Then one day in late 1973, that changed almost overnight, and it changed dramatically. At the height of the then ongoing Arab-Israeli war, and in the midst of the growing Watergate scandal hearings in the US Senate, which were exposing corruption and taking their toll on the effective functioning of the Nixon Administration, the Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries announced an oil embargo directed at the U.S. and several of its allies. That was quickly followed by a quadrupling of the price of oil from what it had been for many years.

For the U.S., the days of cheap energy and endless supplies were over. Oil politics and oil diplomacy entered the American vocabulary as a new "thing".

In the ensuing decades, the U.S. has struggled to define an energy strategy, to increase its domestic oil production, to make more efficient use of its energy supplies and to reduce its dependence on foreign oil imports, both for economic and for foreign policy purposes. It has had slow but gradual success in those endeavors.

Into that mix came a new American technology called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. While fracking had its roots back during the Civil War, it wasn't until the last half of the 20th Century, in particular in the 1990s, when technological advances and world oil prices combined to turn fracking into a major industry.

Fracking resulted in an historic revival of oil and gas production in the US. As 2019 dawned, the US was on the verge of becoming a net exporter of oil, and a world-class exporter of liquid natural gas. While some see fracking as an environmental hazard -- it appears to have turned Oklahoma into the new earthquake capital of the U.S. -- others see it as a way to squeeze oil and natural gas out of heretofore unyielding shale oil rock formations, to increase production by the industry, to reduce oil imports for the country and, indeed, to turn the US into a dominant, net energy exporter nation, which could last for many years while more sustainable energy sources are developing and becoming economically feasible. As 2019 developed, there was political talk of American energy dominance.

Barely a year later, the fracking boom is in free fall. Why? What are the implications for American energy independence? Fracking was prolific, but was it ever profitable? Was there a clash between narrative and numbers?

In this presentation, David Edick will walk us through the trends, issues and economics of the oil and gas business, with a particular look at fracking and its impact on US energy production and profits.

It will be challenging, and it will be enlightening.

This will be a talk with active Q&A and lots of facts, analytical insights and new understanding of some complex issues. Join us tomorrow, when David will address the above issues and more in this highly engaging and energetic presentation.

Speaker's bio:
David Edick Jr. is a global political economist and a 3-term Past-President of the San Diego World Affairs Council. He is Principal at Core Global Advisory, a consultancy focused on commodities, geopolitics, political risk and market strategy. He has worked abroad in Russia and Mexico in the international food trade and investment banking. In his consulting role, he serves as a bridge-builder to facilitate mutual understanding, decisionmaking and profitable development, across issues ranging from political and economic macro analysis, marketing and sales and government liaison, to business development, commodities markets and changing political leadership in Russia, Europe, Asia and other parts of the world.

David also serves as a member of the Energy Committee for the Western Regional Partnership, a collaborative between the Department of Defense and representatives of Federal agencies and State and Tribal leadership in 6 states of the US southwest. An energy specialist with particular expertise in the oil and natural gas sectors, David has lectured widely on energy-related issues for more than 15 years.

David graduated from San Diego State University in 1985 with a custom-designed degree in Global Political Economy. He and his family live in Rancho San Diego, California.

To Attend:
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