Oil and gas powering US manufacturing industry.

It is widely accepted throughout the world that, oil and gas is the best source of non renewable energy that is currently available to mankind. The applications and the possibilities that come with the use of oil and gas as energy sources are endless. Our everyday life would be very different if not for oil and gas, as our dependence on them range from simple household appliances to the running of cars, machinery, industries etc. So how great would it be if there is a drop in the cost of energy-specifically oil and natural gases, as it has been the continuous case over the recent past.

Also, at the moment U.S is one of the most attractive places to manufacture.Today, a large percentage of U.S GDP is taken control from the manufacturing industry . Due to this reason, naturally, there is a large boom in the field of manufacturing industry. One factor for the increase in interest in manufacturing engineering can be attributed to the above mention drop in the prices of oil and gas.All of these positive signs in the oil and gas trade have created more opportunities to manufacturers as well as they are also supplied with new machined equipment . There will be increased need for new and innovative manufacturing technologies that will help meet the growing demand and increase overall productivity. This in turn increases the opportunities in the manufacturing engineering field.

Manufacturing engineers also expect to see an increase in the amount of manufacturing technology used specifically in oil and gas applications. Such technology includes advance machinery such as reliable rugged machine tools with long boring bar and deep milling capabilities, as well as high horsepower, large bore, multiple spindles, multiple turret machines and those with bigger overall work envelopes.

All these new improvements and innovations are happening due to the increase in the need for oil and gas, and with the continual drop in their energy price I believe that the field of manufacturing engineering will be a hot topic in the coming future with lots of benefits being available to manufacturing engineers all over the world. 

Sources:

• Brian Papke (). Oil and gas industries powering US manufacturing. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.sme.org/MEMagazine/Article.aspx?id=71172&taxid=1433. [Last Accessed 03/30/2013].