DALLAS–On Friday, CBRE released its 'Energy Revolution Impact on Americas Commercial Real Estate' report. The study was authored by locally-based Sara Rutledge, and Denver-based Jessica Ostermick.

Main findings in the report include:

• While the energy industry is a global one, the report points out that he rise in unconventional oil and gas development has created a shift in the geography of production. This change means the global supply is being increasingly driven by the Americas region – a trend that is expected to last through 2040.
• Within the oil and gas operations, the markets that contain the headquarters and/or regional operations centers of office-based energy professionals, such as Caracas and Houston, posted the most dramatic improvements in class A office vacancy since 2010.
• The office markets in Houston, Caracas and Denver were the only energy operations markets that continued to see vacancy rates decline to support strong 2013 rent growth.
• The billions of dollars invested in unconventional energy exploration is having a significant impact on economic and commercial real estate activity, especially in North American exploration hubs. This is creating opportunities for both investors and developers.

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

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