Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Tony Vanetik: How Tech is Changing Oil and Gas

This blog was originally published on Tony Vanetik's website.
No one in their right mind would dare say that technology hasn’t changed the way we’ve lived in recent years. Everything around us, from the homes we live in to the watches on our wrists, have been profoundly affected by technological advances. Even the cars we drive have found themselves with new pieces of tech both inside and out, changing everything from our navigation systems to the fuel efficiency of cars both large and compact.
The fuel efficiency of our cars has been rising for years, according to the Washington Post, the cars we drive now are more fuel-efficient than they ever have been previously. Some have reached the point of not needing fuel at all, as electric vehicles have begun to become more and more common on the roads around us.
And that could lead to an oil crisis, at least according to Bloomberg. With battery prices dropping seemingly every year, and new scientific advances leading to more advanced battery technology, electric vehicles (EVs) are primed to begin making the transition from high-end luxury purchase to something that just about everyone can afford, regardless of status.
“By 2040, long-range electric cars will cost less than $22,000 (in today’s dollars), according to the projections. Thirty-five percent of new cars worldwide will have a plug,” says Bloomberg.
Whether or not EVs actually cause the need for oil to drop enough to cause a crisis similar to the one we experience in 2014 is yet to be determined. It will largely depend on how low (or high) prices remain in the next few decades when electric vehicles insert their way into the market for more and more people. Low prices, combined with the need for developing countries to continuously depend on foreign oil could have a considerable impact on the prediction that Bloomberg made.
Technology, though, isn’t worth paying attention to simply due to electric cars for oil and gas. As new technologies are developed that wind up lessening our dependence on oil, new technologies also emerge that increase oil and gas outputs more efficiently. Fracking, for example, has caused the price of US natural gas, which has historically been similar to oil, to plummet as the means of gathering it become easier.