Is the last of Earth’s fossil fuels in sight? Not quite, but that doesn’t mean it’s as plentiful as it used to be. It also doesn’t mean that it’s not going to be more expensive than ever to find new sources to maintain current levels of production.
That’s why energy experts are pushing harder than ever to encourage governments and companies to invest in the development of alternative energy sources. Those invested in maintaining the predominance of oil and gas point toward the cost of developing these new energy sources, but a new report shows just how expensive it’s going to be to maintain our reliance on fossil fuels.
According to a recent Bloomberg article by Alex Longley, the International Energy Agency estimates that “[t]he world needs to spend some $540 billion a year looking for oil and gas to maintain current output by 2050 as the pace of declines in existing fields increases.”
Part of the reason for those faster decline rates is the “increased global dependency on U.S. shale.” Summarizing the outlook for the oil and gas industry around the world, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol says the industry “has to run much faster just to stand still.”
But won’t increased output from alternative energy sources reduce reliance on fossil fuels in the future? That’s the hope of many, for sure. However, Longley points out that “there’s little sign of oil demand peaking soon, meaning that elevated output will be needed for years to come.”
To keep production at current levels, significant investment will be necessary moving forward to find new oil and gas reserves. If this doesn’t happen, “global supply would fall by the combined production of Norway and Brazil — more than 5 million barrels a day — every year,” according to Longley.
While economists will fret over numbers like these, there’s one group of people who will welcome the news: oil and gas workers. As new oil and gas reserves are discovered and developed, there will be no shortage of oil and gas jobs for the foreseeable future.
In fact, many oil and gas companies still struggle to hire the skilled workers they desperately need. Moving forward, companies will need to continue to hire skilled workers while also upskilling current workers.
So how do oil and gas companies improve their focus on technical skills? For new and current employees, the answer is technical training. Oil and gas workers need both fundamental knowledge and hands-on technical skills with real industrial equipment they’ll encounter on the job. Be sure to check out Bayport Technical’s wide variety of hands-on oil and gas training systems to take your oil and gas training to the next level!
