Is Houston The Energy Capital Of The World, Or Just The United States?

[citykid09]

I was watching abc13 when a story on the new Qatar Airlines Houston route came on. The spokes person for the company said something like well we wanted to connect the energy capital of the world which is Doha to Houston the energy capital of the United States. He made it sound like he was bragging and I hope he was wrong.

So which is it? Energy Capital of the World or USA?

Also I here Dubai went bust after all of the over building. Buildings are sitting empty and some half way built structures have stopped altogether.

[editor]

I rarely believe any time anyone claims that any thing is some superlative "of the world," unless it's certified by Guinness. And adding vague descriptors like "capital" to it only make the claim more dubious.

There's a church in Chicago (Old Saint Patrick's) that every year throws "The World's Largest Block Party." It's not the world's largest. Heck, it's not even the Midwest's largest. OSP's "World's Largest Block Party" drew 18,000 people in 2008. The Basilica Block Party in Minneapolis drew 25,000. My point is that most people don't know enough about the world to say anything is the "world's" best/biggest, etc... Which is why it's handy to have the folks from Guinness on hand.

I'm not saying that Houston ISN'T the energy capital of the world (I don't work in the energy industry, so what would I know?) I'm just saying that the phrase sets off my BS detector.

There are plenty of people on HAIF who work in the energy industry. I'd like to hear from them.

[Subdude]

Inasmuch as these kind of things mean anything at all, it seems fair to say that Houston would have the best claim to be energy capital of the US and the world. I'm certainly not aware of any other city that is as dependent on the energy bidness; certainly not Doha. That said, the economies as a whole of the Gulf states are of course centered around oil and gas production, so in that sense the region is the energy capital of the world.

[hoef]

Inasmuch as these kind of things mean anything at all, it seems fair to say that Houston would have the best claim to be energy capital of the US and the world. I'm certainly not aware of any other city that is as dependent on the energy bidness; certainly not Doha. That said, the economies as a whole of the Gulf states are of course centered around oil and gas production, so in that sense the region is the energy capital of the world.

Agree, though I would expand it a little and say the Gulf of Mexico region is the energy center of the world

[Houston19514]

I was watching abc13 when a story on the new Qatar Airlines Houston route came on. The spokes person for the company said something like well we wanted to connect the energy capital of the world which is Doha to Houston the energy capital of the United States. He made it sound like he was bragging and I hope he was wrong.

So which is it? Energy Capital of the World or USA?

Also I here Dubai went bust after all of the over building. Buildings are sitting empty and some half way built structures have stopped altogether.

My guess is citykid misheard the story...

[H-Town Man]

Inasmuch as these kind of things mean anything at all, it seems fair to say that Houston would have the best claim to be energy capital of the US and the world. I'm certainly not aware of any other city that is as dependent on the energy bidness; certainly not Doha. That said, the economies as a whole of the Gulf states are of course centered around oil and gas production, so in that sense the region is the energy capital of the world.

But I guess what's more important is not what city is most dependent on the energy business, but what city is the energy business most dependent on?

Midland's more dependent on energy than we are, but they're not the energy capital of anything larger than West Texas.

[editor]

I wonder if Texaco will ever move back to Texas.

[Houston19514]

I wonder if Texaco will ever move back to Texas.

Texaco no longer exists. So I guess the answer is no.

[rsb320]

I think Chevron has pretty much dropped the Texaco branding from their name (Chevron/Texaco). As I understand it Exxon/Mobil can't drop the Mobil. It was a contractural stipulation or something.

I like the sound of this: Houston is the Energy Capital of the Western, Civilized World.

[Houston19514]

I think Chevron has pretty much dropped the Texaco branding from their name (Chevron/Texaco). As I understand it Exxon/Mobil can't drop the Mobil. It was a contractural stipulation or something.

I like the sound of this: Houston is the Energy Capital of the Western, Civilized World.

Not just pretty much. They dropped the Texaco portion completely from the company name, pretty shortly after the merger. Its name is "Chevron Corporation." Texaco only exists as a brand name, no longer as a company.

[Montrose1100]

I'm going to say Houston simply because of the money & business that flow/and are located here.

Aberdeen (as little as it is) claims to be "the Energy Capital of Europe." Which can go either way, but the Energy business is also very present in London, Norway, Russia (Moscow & St. Petersburg), Vienna, Amsterdam, parts of Germany, Paris... of course it exsists in other countries & cities, but I only hear those places tossed around most of the time (in Europe).

Then you have the Caspian Sea... but I guess that's technically Asia.

As for the Gulf of Mexico region, while companies still have a lot of operations in Louisiana, there is nothing to compare to the size & business of Houston. Although Exxon is in Irving, Devon in Oklahoma City, and TXU in Dallas, we still have very large operations & offices here.

As far as Africa, it's everywhere. In the Northern Sahara, all the way down to Capetown. I wouldn't know what place could be the "Energy Capital". I guess you could look up how many operations, companies, and business is taking place, but any place that deals in Energy can claim to be the Capital.