In June, IREI held its annual i3 conference and Editorial Advisory Board meeting for the i3 publication, and this year the events were in Boston, home to one of the country’s largest, most expensive and controversial public works — the Big Dig. The transportation project along the Boston waterfront consisted of roads and tunnels and was completed in 2007, and despite many serious setbacks, with hindsight it’s earning respect. As the Boston Globe put it in December, “Here we are, 10 years after the official completion in 2006. How are we feeling now? Maybe there’s room for some grudging appreciation.” 

A year has passed since IREI last held its i3 Editorial Advisory Board meeting and i3 conference and much in the market for infrastructure investment has changed. The future always presents risks and challenges for investors, but perhaps now more than in the recent past, uncertainty about the future is making decision-making for long-term infrastructure investments more difficult. 

When it comes to the state of the global oil and gas market, the often misquoted line by Mark Twain springs to mind: “Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

For more than a year now, the prices of both West Texas Intermediate and Brent Crude oil have been bumping along in the range of $30–$60 per barrel, currently hovering just above the $40 per barrel mark. Between 2012 and 2014, prices reached as high as $125 per barrel and never fell below $90 per barrel until they began their steady decline toward the end of 2014.