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Energy Executives More Optimistic About U.S. Independence

Susan Phillips / StateImpactPA

A worker at a Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling site in Susquehanna County, Pa.


A survey of energy executives by the financial services company CIT Group shows growing optimism for the nation becoming independent of foreign energy sources. Of the 107 people polled, 27 percent say it’s either feasible or very feasible. Forty-six percent said it’s not feasible.
Those surveyed say the factors that would contribute to independence include conservation, expansion of nuclear power, arctic oil fields and increasing the amount of clean energy in the mix.
But they also pointed to increased conflict overseas as raising the cost of oil, which would make domestic sources of energy, including natural gas, more competitive. Those same executives pointed to drilling regulations, and environmental concerns, as two factors inhibiting energy independence.
Shale gas,  including the Marcellus Shale, was cited by many as a “crucial addition” to the nation’s energy mix.

Such new discoveries, along with the multibillion- barrel oil deposits in the Williston Basin of the Dakotas and Montana, have executives heartened about the state of the industry. Fully half of the respondents characterized these recent discoveries as a “crucial addition” to the U.S. energy mix, while fully 25% agreed with the statement: “They are a game changer: They will secure our energy future for the foreseeable future.” Just 6% believed the importance of the Williston, Marcellus and Eagle Ford resources is overblown

The poll was conducted by CTI in conjunction with Forbes Insights. To read more of the survey, you can download the full report by clicking here.

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