While supply of energy commodities can often seem arcane, only noticeable to end consumers when prices rise or there is a supply disruption, demand is much more tactile and visible.

“Everyone wants to use as much plastic as we do,” notes Williams Energy senior executive David Darcey on this video shot at a recent summit of the US Association of Energy Economics, detailing rising US production of plastics, innovations in making steel using natural gas and heating oil conversions as parts of the puzzle in creating a rising market for natural gas production currently weighing on prices.

It is those cheap prices that are keeping natural gas demand forecasts on the climb. “Natural gas is a huge bargain,” says Darcey, whose company is set to invest $25 billion in new delivery infrastructure for the commodity over the next five years.

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