The transition into a new era

摘要

Dear Reader, These are unprecedented times in the oil and gas industry. New technologies have produced gluts of both oil and natural gas, which have provided cheap feedstocks for the downstream processing industries. The cyclical nature of the oil and gas business has had vastly different effects on each region. To oil-exporting nations, reduced oil prices equate to low government revenues. In turn, little money is available to fund social, industrial or infrastructure projects. To other nations, low oil and natural gas prices have been a boon to the processing industries. They have seen a boost in the construction of additional downstream processing capacity, as well as cheap fuel prices for consumers, which spur consumption.