Collapsing crude oil prices and sagging prices for natural gas have left the North American energy sector reeling and led many hydrocarbon producers to plan sizable cutbacks in their 2015 drilling plans. But thanks to improved drilling techniques and a new focus on the most productive wells, U.S. oil and gas production is expected to continue rising this year—and probably next year too—and all that oil and gas will need to be transported from the wellhead to the end-user.
It would be an overstatement to say that pipeline construction is booming, but the level of activity in planning, designing and building projects remains high by historical standards, and it seems likely to stay that way.