Natural Gas: A Key to Global Energy Security
by David J. O'Reilly
Chairman and CEO
Chevron Corporation
Although oil has dominated the world's energy portfolio for the past century,
natural gas has become an important contributor to the global energy industry.
While overall global energy demand is expected to increase by 50 percent
during the next 20 years, demand for natural gas is projected to increase
nearly 70 percent.
Projects now underway, such as long-distance pipelines, gas-to-liquids fuels
(GTL) and liquefied natural gas (LNG), will deliver the promise of natural
gas to a world that needs all the energy it can get to fuel economic growth
and human progress. The aspiration toward growth and progress underscores
one of the most critical issues we face today.
That issue is energy security. Sustainable development is a long-term imperative,
but energy security is a near-term necessity. The debate about energy security
– and the solutions we come up w– will help determine the quality of
life for millions of human beings. And it will determine, in part, whether
the global economic expansion we are experiencing today can be sustained.
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