CEO of Tuscaloosa Energy Services, Charlotte Batson was the keynote speaker at last week’s Hammond Chamber luncheon, where she discussed the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale’s potential to restructure the local economy for years to come.
The TMS is an oil and natural gas “play” that stretches from Louisiana’s border with Texas in Beauregard and Vernon parishes to the Pearl River, which forms the border with Mississippi.  According to Batson, the play is low in gas, but rich in oil and estimates that over seven billion barrels of oil are waiting within.
“I look at shale plays all over the country and all over the world, but this region, in our own backyard, holds potential that others do not,” she said.  “The geography of this play makes it uniquely positioned to affect the local and national economy.”
Batson’s lecture took the audience through the history of oil in the United States, beginning with the Arab Oil Embargo of 1972.  During the years after the embargo, the U.S. peaked its oil production at around 10 million barrels of oil a day, which is minute compared other producers. After that peak, oil production in the U.S. per day was on a steady decline. However, in 2006 the decline was beginning to reverse.
“The total amount of barrels produced in the United States in 2013 alone has jumped back up to seven and a half million barrels a day,” said Batson. “The forecasts show that everything is changing on the ground so quickly that we just can’t keep up.”
According to the forecasters that Batson discussed, the U.S. will be producing over nine million barrels of oil in 2014. Batson said that by that time, major production states like Texas and North Dakota will nearly double their output.
“Individual states in the United States, even Louisiana, will be commensurate with OPEC countries,” said Batson. “The most aggressive forecasts I’ve seen show the U.S. producing around 10 to 13 million barrels a day by the year 2020.”
While the potential for Louisiana to become a major player in the oil market excites energy companies, the shadow of the Deepwater Horizon spill in 2011 hangs heavy in the air. However, Batson believes that drilling in the TMS is completely safe.
“There’s always concerns, but when people are made aware of the large number wells that are already in operation with literally no damage to the air and water their concerns basically disappear,” she said. “Certainly there are lessons to be learned, but I think the Deepwater Horizon incident was more about the actions of individuals than the industry.”
When drilling does begin in earnest on the TMS, Batson thinks local fuels costs will see a drop in the short term. However, demand will see prices return to about where they are now. In the long term, exploiting the TMS will increase the energy independence of the U.S. and not all of it from oil
“The U.S. met 89 percent of it’s own energy needs for the first half of 2013,” said Batson. “This is from a variety of sources, not just oil or gas, but from solar and wind power. It’s misleading to attribute all of that to oil, but I think just as a broad brush that’s a very powerful number. I absolutely think it will go even farther.”
The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale Summit will be held Dec. 3-4 in the Center of the TMS in Baton Rouge, La.