06/27/2025

USAEE Central Texas Chapter Kicks Off 2025 with Timely Economic Insights

Dean Foreman Delivers Presentation on U.S. Macroeconomic and Energy Market Trends

On June 26, 2025, the USAEE Central Texas Chapter hosted its first meeting of the year, bringing together a dynamic group of local energy economists, analysts, regulators, and University of Texas students.

The chapter was honored to welcome Dean Foreman, Chief Economist of the Texas Oil & Gas Association (TXOGA) and current USAEE President, who delivered a timely and thought-provoking presentation on U.S. macroeconomic and energy market trends. Dean’s remarks covered:

🔹 U.S. Economic Outlook: Macro uncertainties and recession risks following the latest U.S. GDP release—the final Q1 2025 report—which notably omitted key inventory and trade data, adding to economic uncertainty.
🔹 Oil Market Fundamentals: Generationally low U.S. crude inventories, with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at its lowest level since 1984 and commercial crude stocks down 5% since mid-April, now sitting at the bottom of the five-year range. With only about 40 days of supply on hand, concerns over market vulnerability amid heightened geopolitical risks are rising.
🔹 Natural Gas Developments: Recent domestic price declines despite record-high LNG exports, driven by historically elevated storage inventories.
🔹 Texas Electricity Markets: Updates on ERCOT load growth, generation mix shifts, and evolving retail and industrial electricity prices in Texas, with comparisons to neighboring New Mexico and Louisiana.
🔹 Texas Oil & Gas Trends: Latest insights on Texas oil and natural gas production, productivity, and employment patterns.

The session drew attendees from Fitch Ratings, the Railroad Commission of Texas, InsideOut Partners, Texas International Energy Group, ReSolved Energy Consulting, and UT Austin’s Bureau of Economic Geology.

The Central Texas Chapter extends special thanks to Dean and all who participated in an engaging and insightful discussion and looks forward to building on this momentum and strengthening the Central Texas energy economics community throughout 2025. Stay tuned for details on the chapter's next event!