President Bush highlights US leadership in global energy at Gastech Gala Dinner

Former US President George W. Bush was the headline speaker at the opening VIP Dinner of the 52nd edition of the Gastech Exhibition and Conference in Houston, offering his unique insights on global geopolitics, the development of Texas as an energy hub, the future of global energy and Washington’s role in it. President Bush, who served two consecutive terms from 2001 to 2009, wisely warned in those years of the dangers of the country’s overreliance on imported energy. His warning bore fruit, as it was during his time in office that important breakthroughs in oil and gas extraction occurred, opening vast new reserves in North America that became the basis for a revolution in American energy.

Partly thanks to his foresight and leadership, the US found its way to energy independence as the world’s leading oil producer and leading exporter of liquefied natural gas. And it is with good reason that President Bush has always prided himself on being a Texan, for his home state has played a central role in America’s energy revolution. Producers have deployed the new technologies to unlock huge quantities of oil and gas in the Permian Basin, remaking this great region into a critical global center of energy production. Meanwhile, Texas has embraced new forms of energy with open arms, undertaking an enormous expansion of wind and solar power to support its rapid population and economic growth.

Texas and especially Houston, so long at the heart of the US energy industries, has been rethinking energy in a way that reflects the thinking and needs of the whole nation. Whether speaking of traditional forms of energy or new, the state remains a national leader and a place of superlatives. Texas is not only the top crude oil and natural gas-producing state in the US, with by far the most refining capacity in the nation; it also leads the nation in wind-powered electricity generation. Texas produces more electricity than any other state and consumes more energy than any other to power its industries including its vast refining and petrochemical plants.

This summer, the demand for electricity in Texas hit an all-time high. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas has forecast that electricity demand could double in six years, with continuing population growth and high demand from new data centers. Utilities are meeting this demand successfully with additions of solar, wind and energy storage resources, as well as gas-fired power.
The City of Houston and the Gulf Coast have found new needs and growing opportunities in the transformed energy sector. The region’s energy leaders and entrepreneurs are now responding with innovative approaches in the new low carbon sectors, including hydrogen and its derivatives. Planning for pipelines and power grids is underway, creating the infrastructure required for a new energy economy.

The broader Houston region has the country’s largest renewable energy production, while the Gulf Coast is the largest producer of hydrogen in the US with its largest hydrogen pipeline network. With billions coming from the Infrastructure and Inflation Reduction (IRA) acts, in the form of tax benefits for hydrogen production, carbon sequestration, and renewable power generation, the pieces of a future hydrogen economy are falling into place.

Last year’s announcement from the US Department of Energy that the Gulf Coast was selected as one of seven ‘hydrogen hubs’ added to the excitement. The HyVelocity Hydrogen Hub is expected to be the largest in the country. Indeed, over the past four years, the United States has seen a nearly 60% surge in clean energy investment – and the country is now a major market for renewables, batteries and electric vehicles, according to the International Energy Agency.

The revolution in American energy that began under President Bush’s watch is continuing with Texas at the center of it – and a raft of major energy initiatives have supported progress toward energy security, affordability and decarbonization goals and consolidated the global leadership of the US in the energy sector. Those achievements were in the spotlight as President Bush addressed VIP dignitaries assembled at The Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston for the Gala Dinner to mark the opening of Gastech 2024.

President Bush was joined by his former cabinet colleague Robert M. Gates, who served him as US Secretary of Defense. The two leaders together made a powerful impression upon the gathered representatives of the world’s energy industries on a night filled with interesting discussion, profound insights and much entertainment.