Chevron executive: US energy ‘envy of the world’

Chevron executive Pierre Breber touted the U.S. energy industry as the “envy of the world” in a talk with his alma mater, Cornell University.

Breber was asked to speak about what next year might hold for the industry as it finds itself in the middle of the largest oil collapse since 2008, Bloomberg reports.

{mosads}”Already, higher production has contributed to lower oil prices benefiting consumers and lower natural gas prices, which is helping to bring back manufacturing jobs to this country,” Breber, president of Chevron Gas and Midstream, said Thursday night, according to prepared remarks. “Like Silicon Valley, our energy industry is the envy of the world.”

Breber also planned to talk about how the U.S. is an “improbably energy giant” that came surging out of decline to what many have dubbed a “renaissance.”

“The world is scrambling to duplicate our success, from China to Europe, and with good reason,” he said, according to Bloomberg.

The price of oil has fallen for the past seven months, hitting a near six-year low below $50 a barrel.