Global economic expansion drives demand across most energy and power sectors. Many industry segments such as deep water offshore drilling, upstream production, and refining and marketing are presently operating at near-full capacity. We believe that significant capital investment will be required to expand, diversify and optimize the world's energy and power capacity and infrastructure.

Many governments, including the U.S., are reviewing current regulatory policies and gradually bringing their respective energy industries into an era of open competition, creating numerous investment opportunities. Through the industry, existing vertically integrated organizations are being disaggregated in order to focus on core competencies and the rationalizing of assets. Although many aspects of energy and power will remain regulated, and some deregulation has created unforeseen dislocation and price spikes, the industry in most major economic regions around the world continues to pursue the benefits of deregulation to stimulate increased levels of competition.