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Published January 26, 2017
NEIL CAVUTO, HOST OF "YOUR WORLD": Meanwhile, to the guy who says that the only way to reverse this trend is to dig for oil, and fast. But even Todd Hornbeck says, best-case scenario, certainly with this continuing excuse of using this BP disaster anniversary as cover, we'd still be years from seeing fruits of our labors.
Good to have you back with us, Todd.
TODD HORNBECK, CEO, HORNBECK OFFSHORE SERVICES, INC.: Good to see you.
CAVUTO: And this is the week, of course, we look at I think Wednesday the anniversary of the BP disaster. That will again be, I guess, fuel to the let's not drill, baby, drill, argument, right?
HORNBECK: Well, I hope not.
It's been one -- it will be the one-year anniversary of the accident in the Gulf. And we've done a lot in this industry working with government to provide systems and procedures to never allow that to happen again.
We have two well containment systems now that are approved. And we're working very, very hard to get all of the equipment back running again. I think we're much safer if the equipment is operating, rather than sitting idle by.
And let's face it. The world has always been consuming more oil and gas for the last 50 years. Just 20 years ago, it was stated that if we ever got over 75 million barrels a day in the world, it would not sustain itself. And now we are at 89 million barrels a day and climbing. So we really need to start drilling.
CAVUTO: So what do you make of Saudi Arabia then saying, as I raised with my last guest, we have an oversupply of oil, that's why we're cutting back?
HORNBECK: Well, I think any time you are dependent on someone else to tell you what you need to know, then you are in trouble.
I think we need our own energy security. We can do it and we're ready to go. We have the oil. We have the gas. We have all of the tools and the equipment and the people and the skills. And they're right here in the U.S. ready to go.
CAVUTO: Yes, we have -- we're sitting on all this stuff. You're right. We have got oil up the yin-yang, all around the country, outside the country, right along our coast, and we don't touch it. I wonder if a lot of these OPEC nations just laugh their you know what off.
HORNBECK: Oh, of course they do. Maybe they're cutting oil back because they don't think we can pay for it.
CAVUTO: Well, I think they're right, though, in that regard, right?
HORNBECK: Could be.
CAVUTO: They're trying to push us to the brink. So we're not going to change much.
I think, even if we were to commit and start drilling like crazy now, the payoff, while in the markets, they might trade down on the fact that more supply could be coming, we'd be in a bind for a while, right?
HORNBECK: I think if we really pressed on the accelerator and started doing an active program to say that we're going to become energy-independent or close to it, that it would change the game, it would change the negotiating table.
And we would have a lot more leverage than we have today. And I think you would be surprised on how fast that commodity price can come down. And it would be beneficial for the entire country, not only from security, but from inflation and prices and from an unemployment standpoint.
CAVUTO: Well, you're right. Markets do trade on sentiment, yes.
HORNBECK: I just don't understand why people don't have common sense.
(LAUGHTER)
CAVUTO: All right.
Well, this is Washington we're talking about, Todd. All right.
(LAUGHTER)
HORNBECK: Yes, you're right.
CAVUTO: All right, Todd Hornbeck, Thank you very much, Hornbeck Offshore's CEO.
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