For years, the United States was
known for being the world's largest energy-consuming nation, with
imports from abroad making up for its inability to produce enough fuels
for its appetite. Now, the U.S. is entering an energy renaissance, one that's leading to a marked shift in that position.
The International Energy Agency recently predicted
America's oil production will exceed Saudi Arabia's output by 2017, and
three years after that, it's expected to be a net natural gas exporter.
Major oil finds in California, North Dakota, Texas and Pennsylvania have
already put the country on a course toward energy independence, and
even more energy fields have yet to be proved out. Developing these new
resources and the infrastructure to transport, process and deliver this energy could take decades. Along the way, the biggest benefactor may well be master limited partnerships, or MLPs.
MLPs build, own and operate the
pipelines, barges, railcars and storage tanks to deliver natural
resources, and the opportunity in front of them is potentially massive.
In February, U.S. News & World Report quoted an investor who
estimated that more than $300 billon
of new infrastructure development is needed within the next decade to
accommodate the energy boon. For some time, this wasn't widely
recognized -- Warren Buffett bought railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe for $26 billion a few years ago partly for this reason -- but that's changing. (more)
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