A Noteworthy Achievement

We should always praise and congratulate our fellow employees and coworkers when they achieve a major goal, whether it is on the job or a personal accomplishment. It is in that vein that I would like to applaud one of our own. You may be familiar with his work. He is Bruce Beaubouef, the editor of PipeLine and Gas Technology.

But now, he is also the author of a new 350-page, hard-bound book published by Texas A&M University Press. Those who have an interest in how the United States got to this point with regard to its petroleum reserves, import levels, and the politics that have shaped U.S. energy policy will benefit by reviewing this important work.

Bruce’s book is entitled The Strategic Petroleum Reserve: U.S. Energy Security and Oil Politics, 1975-2005. He began work on this project in the early 1990s as part of his Ph.D. in History from the University of Houston. In 2003, Texas A&M University Press approached Bruce with the idea of publishing it as a book. Having made its way through a rigorous review and editing process, the book has now been published, and will be available later this month.

Already, the book has received praise from such notables as David Painter of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University (author of Oil and the American Century); Donald Hodel, U.S. Secretary of Energy under President Reagan; and James Schlesinger, the first Secretary of Energy under President Carter.

Texas A&M’s description of the book is as follows:

“In 1973, the United States and other western countries were shocked by the Arab oil embargo. Lines formed at gasoline pumps; fuel stations ran out of supply; prices skyrocketed; and the nation realized its vulnerability to decisions made by leaders of countries half a world away.”

“In response, the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), which was signed into law by President Gerald Ford in 1975, has become the nation’s primary energy policy tool. Following its first major use during the Persian Gulf War of 1991, officials and policy makers at the highest levels increasingly turned to the SPR to stave off shortages and mitigate rising energy prices.”

“Author and historian Bruce A. Beaubouef examines, for the first time, the interactions that have shaped the development of the SPR. He argues that the SPR has survived because it is a passive regulatory tool that serves to protect energy consumers and petroleum consumption and does not compete with the American oil industry. Indeed, by the late twentieth century, as American import dependency reached new heights, refiners and transporters increasingly relied upon the SPR as a ready resource to help maintain feedstock when supplies were tight or disrupted.”

“In a time of continued vulnerability, this definitive work will be of interest to those concerned with the history, economy, and politics of the oil and gas industry, as well as to historians and practitioners of oil and energy policy.”

The book will be available for sale on September 30th. If you would like to purchase a copy, please turn to page 71 of this magazine, where ordering information can be found. We at Hart Energy Publishing are looking forward to our own signed copy, and are proud to call Bruce our colleague. Congratulations Bruce, on a job well done!

PGT Update

By now, most of you have received the first couple of issues of PGT News, our new bi-weekly electronic newsletter. Here, you will get the latest pipeline industry news, product announcements, and links to industry events and other resources.

PGT News also includes an online survey that is designed to provide you with a new resource for the latest information on key industry trends. These surveys also enable readers to provide feedback that will help us expand our coverage of the industry.

PGT News is emailed to PipeLine and Gas Technology’s subscriber list. If you are not receiving it and wish to do so, please send your request to me at rmilam@ hartenergy.com. We appreciate your support and welcome your comments, ideas, and suggestions.

P.S.: In September, PipeLine and Gas Technology will place its recently published 2007 Pipeline Pigging Buyer’s Guide on-line. For further information, please contact me at the above email address, or Mark Gates at mgates@hartenergy.com.