Dallas Fed forming council to decipher oil, gas trends

DALLAS — Texas oil and gas drillers aren’t the only ones scrambling to dominate the energy market. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas continues to carve out its niche as the energy Fed.

The Dallas Fed is setting up an Energy Advisory Council to help the Fed understand “emerging trends and issues” in the energy sector. In recent years, Dallas Fed president Rob Kaplan has pushed to make his location an important hub for research into the economics of oil and gas.

Houston is known as the nation’s energy capital thanks to its refineries, port, corporate headquarters and operations centers. But the Dallas area is home to energy powerhouses — Exxon Mobil, Energy Transfer Partners and others — as well as financiers fueling the nation’s oil and gas expansion.

“The Dallas Fed plays a unique role in conducting economic research and provides key insights into the impact of the energy sector on the U.S. and world economies,” Kaplan said in a statement. “The concentration of superb energy-related companies in the 11th District provides us with a unique perspective which helps inform our research as well as our views on the global economic impact of the energy sector.”

The 11th Federal Reserve District, based in Dallas, covers Texas, southern New Mexico and northern Louisiana — the nation’s Nos. 1, 3 and 9 oil producers.

Texas’ crude oil production is more than triple that of No. 2 North Dakota. Also, Texas leads the nation in natural-gas production and is home to about 30 percent of U.S. oil refining capacity, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The new seven-member council includes representatives from oil and gas drilling, refining, oil-field services, finance and analysis.

The initial group, which could be expanded to 10 members, did not have representatives from the renewable sector.

Since taking over as the Dallas Fed president in 2015, Kaplan has expanded the district’s energy research efforts. The number of energy economists doubled from three to six, and local Fed staff members created a monthly report of energy indicators and survey oil and gas companies in the 11th District.

The Dallas Fed has also collaborated with the Kansas City Fed to create annual energy conferences. Kaplan was also a keynote speaker earlier this month at CERAWeek, an annual energy conference packed with industry heavyweights.