Westphal speaks at Little Rock investment conference (Updated)

Fort Smith businessman Bennie Westphal told more than 150 state business leaders that oil and natural gas prices are artificially and irrationally low and will likely stay at such lows because of economic conditions.

Little Rock-based Delta Trust & Bank on Thursday (Feb. 26) held an investment outlook conference that featured Westphal, CEO of the Westphal Group, Richard Whiting, CEO of St. Louis-based Patriot Coal Corp., and Frank Epps, CEO of Emergya Wind Technologies-Americas — a subsidiary of The Netherlands-based Emergya Wind Technologies.

Westphal (pictured at left), who has has business interests in the oil and gas industry in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, said it will require an improving national economy to push natural gas prices up from the $4 per mcf levels seen today.

“I think when the economy returns you’re going to see a floor of $5.50 and a ceiling of $8.80 (for natural gas),” Westphal told the crowd.

Westphal is confident the state’s Fayetteville Shale play will remain viable for years to come. He said Chesapeake Energy’s billion-dollar investment from BP America will encourage more exploration, and SEECO’s commitment to infrastructure has paved the way for future drilling investments.



UPDATED INFO: An interview with Westphal will appear on Roby Brock’s Talk Business television show at 9 a.m., Sunday (March 1), on Fox 24 in Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas.

COAL
Whiting said coal-powered electricity will not diminish because consumers will demand that electricity costs remain affordable.

“Coal is necessary for the production of affordable electricity, which is the platform for a competitive economy,” he explained.



Whiting laid out three criteria he hopes will guide a national energy policy: it has to be practical, it has to be affordable, and the timing must be realistic.



“Decisions need to be made in a timely fashion and they need to work over time,” Whiting added.



WIND
Epps, who leads one of Arkansas’ newest wind energy companies, the Polymarin wind turbine plant locating in southeast Little Rock, said during the past five years the wind industry has averaged 32% annual growth and produced enough power to service 7 million U.S. households.



He cited the renewal of the federal production tax credit in December 2008 as a major incentive for developing wind energy projects. Congress stalled on the measure late last year before ultimately extending the credit.

Link here for a more detailed conference report from Roby Brock at Talk Business, a content partner with The City Wire.