Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Natural Gas: The Argument for Exports -- Carpe Diem

This is really quite incredible:
If there is one conclusion that should be drawn from the boom in U.S. natural gas production, it is that supplies are so abundant that it makes economic sense to export some of our gas to countries overseas.

No one could have imagined that possibility even a few years ago when the United States was actually importing natural gas, with much of it arriving on LNG tanker ships.

Today America is completely self-sufficient in natural gas. In fact, we produce more gas than we can use, and soon we will not have enough room to store the surplus gas.  Even now, some of the gas produced as a byproduct of oil drilling must be burned off or “flared” as a waste product until customers can be found to buy it. 
Link here at CarpeDiem.com for much more, including graphs.

I've blogged about that before: soon the US won't have enough storage capacity for all the natural gas it is producing. Even as natural gas companies say they are cutting production, oil companies are producing more and more natural gas as a by-product of their drilling.

There are several solutions, one I haven't seen mentioned yet: more LNG tankers storing natural gas off-shore.

Folks say the bottom may have been reached with regard to price for natural gas, but if the US runs out of storage space it's hard to see how natural gas has hit bottom, especially when a lot of production is coming as a by-product.

Wind, solar, coal, nuclear, biofuels, algae

6 comments:

  1. This qtr earnings on the major NG stocks will indicate the reduction of dry gas drilling.

    Also when the government numbers come out for NG use in electricity generation it may be staggering.

    Arch coal came out with earnings several days ago and their coal production in the Powder River Basin is down.. talking about layoffs...

    Oh and hurricane season is only a month away..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Arch Coal and layoffs....well, President Obama wanted to kill the coal industry and he may very well succeed.

      Delete
    2. What export natural gas helping with balancing our trade deficit? It just makes too much common sense for the progressive liberals. Therefor they will be against it. Besides the evil oil and gas industry stands to benefit, making evil profit. Oil and gas doesn't play crony capitalism therefor they are to be despised.

      Anyway I sure hope it happens and as soon as possible. The country should get behind it with enthusiasm like they are behind the Keystone XL pipeline but that hasn't been advanced as it should.

      Delete
    3. Yes, I agree 100%. Progressive liberals hate it when Big Oil, Big Pharma, anything that might compete with them, makes a profit.

      Delete
  2. With regards to thermal power generation. The C word is out (coal) and the G word is in. Gas and Garbage are the new accepted fuels.

    spoken from displaced power generation worker

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope the president comes to regret the day he ever said so clearly that he wanted to destroy the coal industry. How much he really viscerally felt that, he was also saying it for political effect, for his audience. I don't think he ever imagined (no one could have, not even Al Gore who invented the internet) that natural gas would become so abundant that it (natural gas, not government policies) would destroy coal -- the administration's actions just hastened the day.

      I hope you surviving in some other discipline.

      Delete