Mark Levitsky Petroleum - Oil and Gas

Online, October 23, 2013 (Newswire.com) - The International Energy Agency reported this summer that such technologies are "unlocking" hard-to-reach resources and driving "the recent rebound in US oil and gas production." The environmentally careful application of these technologies offers opportunities to improve domestic energy security - as well as support America's foreign policy. This development should be encouraged. Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency required that by 2015, drillers capture "fugitive" emissions at oil and gas wellheads rather than release them into the air. The EPA predicts this will also reduce leaks of the greenhouse gas methane by 25 percent. In short, fracking should be encouraged in a way that rationally addresses public and environmental health while producing the energy needed to meet demand.

Looking ahead, even if wholesale US energy demand dips, demand outside the US - principally in China and India - will continue to grow.

The report also notes that any changes to the credit ratings of major European oil and gas companies in 2014 will be driven by company-specific actions related to their individual business and financial profiles. We do not expect that changes in credit quality will come from events transpiring in the international energy sector as a whole. Oil and gas service companies are still waiting for a strong uptick in North American activity -- but does this headwind create a solid buying opportunity for investors? Employment in sectors supporting the oil and gas industry also grew in 2012, particularly in the oil and gas pipeline and storage tank construction sector. Employment in that sector grew 105 percent, from 2,021 jobs in 2011 to 3,941 in 2012. Average annual wages increased 13 percent, to $81,250.

Most of the oil and gas employment growth is in the Northern Panhandle and north-central West Virginia, where the bulk of the Marcellus Shale activity is occurring, the report notes.