Random Note on Coal: Overseas Coal Is Surging; US Coal Plants Closing; US Coal Exports At Record

The Billings Gazette is reporting:

Federal officials forecast that 175 coal-burning power plant units will be shuttered in the next five years, equal to 8.5 percent of the total electricity produced by coal, largely because of competition from cheap natural gas and costs of complying with new environmental regulations.

Overseas markets, by contrast, have been booming.

While analysts expect demand to slip temporarily this year, 2012 saw a record 125 million tons of coal exported from the U.S. Some in the industry project that figure could double in just the next five years if new ports and port expansions are built in Washington state, Oregon and the Gulf Coast.

When Don sent me the article earlier, I missed the flip side of the coin, which Don pointed out: all those "shuttering" coal plants mean a lot of natural gas will be required. That's good news because even if the natural gas folks cut back on drilling, the oil fields will keep on producing a lot of natural gas. Who would have ever thought that an oversupply of natural gas would be a problem for energy companies?