Spring 2015 Symposium
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
"Good Times or Bad? Oil Still Makes the Difference for Houston"
Featuring: Robert W. Gilmer, Ph.D.
Director, Institute for Regional Forecasting
Event Details
Hyatt Regency Hotel (Imperial Ballroom), 1200 Louisiana, Houston, Texas 77002
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Registration/Name Badge
pickup: 11 a.m.
Luncheon & Presentation:
11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Online registration is now closed, but if you'd like to attend we do have a limited number of seats available, but they must be purchased at the special assistance table at the symposium. At door registration fee is $125/seat payable with a check made payable to University of Houston.
Here we go again. For the fifth time since 1982 oil prices and the rig count have again fallen sharply, bringing adversity to Houston's economy. The spring symposium will review this growing history of drilling busts, looking carefully for clues to the depth and duration of the current drilling downturn. We will also look at the unique aspects of this event - Saudi intransigence and its basis in the shale plays - for further insight into how drilling might recover this time around. Is the current slide actually well cushioned in Houston - with the potential for substantial help from a strong U.S. economy and a boom in petrochemical construction? Further, as these events unfold, how do job losses ripple through the Houston economy, running from energy downward through oil services, professional services, manufacturing, and ultimately the corner drug store? Which parts of Houston will feel the pain most sharply? And finally, what does this sudden change in momentum mean for a booming residential and commercial real estate industry, caught off-guard in the middle of unprecedented expansion? As the economy cools and outside financing dries up, does Houston finish this economic slowdown with too much or too little residential and commercial inventory?