DALLAS–On Friday, CBRE released its 'EnergyRevolution Impact on Americas Commercial Real Estate' report.The study was authored by locally-based SaraRutledge, and Denver-based JessicaOstermick.

Main findings in the report include:

• While the energy industry is a global one, the report pointsout that he rise in unconventional oil and gas development hascreated a shift in the geography of production. This change meansthe global supply is being increasingly driven by the Americasregion – a trend that is expected to last through 2040.
• Within the oil and gas operations, the markets that contain theheadquarters and/or regional operations centers of office-basedenergy professionals, such as Caracas andHouston, posted the most dramatic improvements inclass A office vacancy since 2010.
• The office markets in Houston, Caracas andDenver were the only energy operations marketsthat continued to see vacancy rates decline to support strong 2013rent growth.
• The billions of dollars invested in unconventional energyexploration is having a significant impact on economic andcommercial real estate activity, especially in North Americanexploration hubs. This is creating opportunities for both investorsand developers.

The report also focuses a section on Houston – theEnergy Capital of the World – which houses 3,700energy-related establishments, as well as the headquarters or majoroperations of 20 of the top 25 publicly traded oil and gasexploration and production firms in the US, such asConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil,Shell Oil and Chevron. In 2013,the city accounted for 40.6% of the total energy employment in theUS.

The energy companies in Houston have had a marked impact on theoffice market including 4.9 million square feet of net absorptionin 2013 and 4.4 million square feet in 2012. While the energyindustry accounted for one-third of the office transactions in2013, it was responsible for 64% of the square footage leased.