7/25/2011
Pillsbury’s Global Energy Industry team, in conjunction with its Annual Energy Conference, has issued a video news release called “Between Risk & Reward: Navigating the U.S. Energy Landscape.” This video highlights the challenges and opportunities in the U.S. energy sector today.
Mike Barr, a natural resources attorney and co-head of Pillsbury Global Energy Industry team, said, “Energy risks have seldom emerged so often and so boldly as they have in the past two years. Japan’s nuclear crisis, BP’s Gulf oil disaster and upsets in the shale gas patches in the U.S. have leaped onto the front page and affected U.S. energy policy and practice in profound ways.”
“Indeed, a comprehensive national energy policy seems as remote as ever. State support of renewables has clashed with nationwide opposition to onshore and offshore wind power. And major solar projects attract major litigation,” Mr. Barr added.
Despite the pressing challenges, pioneering companies are still putting their money on the belief that new technologies and undiscovered or untapped natural resources will eventually pay off for both consumers and investors of power and energy. The market also appears to bear this out.
In a data made available by Thomson Reuters, power and energy deals accounted for 28% of all the global M&A deals in 2010, or up from its previous mark of 12.5% in 2009, with no signs of abating.
Barr, who served as the Executive Producer of the video, also said, “The entire history of energy development in the US is predicated on identifying opportunities and taking the risk to invest in/fund those ventures after carefully assessing the operational, financial, regulatory and legal issues and combined with a carefully calculated leap of faith.”
