The price swings in the oil market are making it difficult for companies to plan on numerous levels. While the price swings are daunting enough, in many states and on the federal level, the more regulations and new taxes are making the decision-making more vexing.

The only way for businesses to cope in this environment is to keep informed. This fall there are a number of expos, conferences and seminars with industry speakers and government officials. The focus of these events deals with all facets of the supply chain – upstream, midstream and downstream in the Marcellus, Utica and Eagle Ford Shale Plays.

One of your key takeaways from these events should be to support the industry. It seems the industry is under attack more than ever with a special focus on the midstream business. Many communities and businesses through the east coast want the lower priced Marcellus and Utica natural gas, but when it comes to pipeline construction, the “NIMBY” (Not In My Backyard) effect takes hold. Additionally, many of the anti-fracking crowd feels they may have lost the upstream battle and have not been able to stop the drilling. Consequently, there are focusing on small communities and using local commissioner meetings to stir up the locals. In some situations, they are outright hostile towards individuals who are in favor of pipeline construction.

I encourage you to attend as many of these events as you can. Speakers will give you their best estimate of what they think will happen, and networking will give you some first-hand information. Shale Directories will be at all of these events so please plan on stopping by our booth.

Shale Directories has a complete list of the major and minor events for the fall.

http://www.shaledirectories.com/site/oil-and-gas-expo-information.html

Joseph Barone
www.ShaleDirectories.com