WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — The Gas & Oil Association of West Virginia (GO-WV) wrapped up its annual summer meeting at the Greenbrier Resort Tuesday looking ahead to what members call a positive future.
Those at the meeting heard from Gov. Jim Justice Tuesday. U.S. Senator Joe Manchin talked about innovation during a Monday appearance.
Diversified Energy CEO Rusty Hutson said the industry continues to evolve to meet the energy needs of the world.
“I think that the industry really is looking toward the future. We’ve become very innovative. We use technology very well. It’s just a different industry than it was 20 year ago,” Hutson said during an appearance on MetroNews “Talkline.”
Hutson said the importance of the industry has been emphasized again in recent years.
“There’s been a two-year period where we have seen that without natural gas and without oil there are significant problems ahead for us,” Hutson said. “Eighty-percent of our power grid is run through carbon and nuclear and less than 16% is run through renewables. So we’ve got to continue to look for ways to be innovative.”
Hutson said the industry wants to be good stewards, capture emissions and sell the production.
There are reports that the use of renewables is increasing but Hutson said the overall numbers are still low.
“There’s a big demand for natural gas. It’s going to continue to be used, not only here in the U.S., but externally, in other countries,” Hutson said.
Operators in West Virginia are looking forward to the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, Hutson said.
“It’s a complete travesty that it took as long as it did,” Hutson said about the repeated court challenges. “There are areas void of natural gas in this country that shouldn’t be.”
Hutson said production should begin in a few months.
“This is going to give West Virginia (natural gas) operators the ability to produce and potentially grow the production that hasn’t been there before. We should be seeing big benefits from it next year,” he said. “The production that it’s going to be able to carry to the southeast is already committed, so it’s ready to go.
Diversified Energy opened its new headquarters in Bridgeport back in February.