So says James West and a team of equity researchers fromBarclays who believe the scheme would help reduce the nation’sreliance on energy imports by stimulating North American productionthrough an improved permitting process and other measures.
“Key takeaways [from the plan] for the oil services &drilling industry include: more control at the state level, thecreation of new cross-state and cross-border collaborative bodies,the opening of new exploration acreage and improved access togeological information,” they wrote in a note to clients.
The analysts say the so-called “Romney Energy Plan”, which seeksenergy independence by 2020, looks particularly positive forseismic companies and offshore drillers as it sets the stage foraccess to new areas offshore Virginia and the Carolinas.
“The plan also calls for collaboration with Canada and Mexico ongeological data and would require onshore domestic geological andgeophysical data to be shared with the Interior Department,” the researchers continued.
“Further, the plan states it would approve permits for seismicsurveys to ‘immediately update decades-old information’. We viewthese resource evaluation mechanisms favourably for additionalexploration activity.”
While the plan seeks to “safeguard” rather than “block”development, a jab at the current administration's policies, the analysts say they view recently enacted and forthcoming regulations as “supportive” of offshore activity and see “little scope for theseto be overturned regardless of the election outcome”.
Romney is expected to become the official Republican nominee forpresident later this week at the GOP’s 2012 convention in Tampa,Florida, where the former Massachusetts governor may run into a fewsupporters from the shipping space.
Intellocorp, a maritime software firm run by market veteranMorten Bjoern, is one of eight South Florida start-ups that will beshowcased at an exposition highlighting topics like technology,corporate growth and job creation in the US.
Explore the fact boxes and video embedded in this article to learn more about Romney’s energy plan and Obama’s “All-Of-The-Above” initiative.
