What happens when federal regulation designed to guard against national shortages of a critical fuel runs headlong into fuel surpluses?
That’s what the US is finding out now with natural gas, and nowhere is the dilemma more clearly on display than the issue of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. Keep reading →
The nation is flooded with natural gas. For the last twelve months, the amount of gas available to the market exceeds five-year averages. With more gas than anyone can use, producers are now looking for new consumers. Two new opportunities have emerged and one could disrupt the nation’s economy in some very positive ways.
Less than five years ago it looked like North America’s natural gas market was going to become highly dependent on foreign imports. Anticipating a growing need to offset declining natural resources, investors built eleven liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals along the east coast and the Gulf of Mexico. Seven more were approved by federal regulators. But during the last 12 months, very little LNG was imported. Keep reading →
The potential implications of recent North American natural gas production increases stretch across the globe, with knock-on impacts for gas trading patterns, regional supply-demand balances and even geopolitics.
These were all topics of discussion at a recent plenary session held during the 31st US Association for Energy Economics North American Conference in Austin, Texas, where analysts, economists, students and government officials from the US and other countries gathered this week. Keep reading →
Will exporting large volumes of US natural gas in the form of LNG raise the price of the commodity and potentially create a competitive disadvantage for gas-intensive industries? And what portions of the US economy are experiencing the impacts of increasing natural gas output most? These are some of the important questions that analysts, government officials, companies and environmental organizations are trying to answer.
In this second installment of our video series about the prospects for and implications of increased US natural gas use, Ian Nathan, Manager of Global Gas and LNG Research at Energy Intelligence Research & Advisory delves a bit deeper in to the issue. Keep reading →
New England’s dependence on fuel oil for heating is putting the region in the energy crosshairs this winter, with the average heating oil price projected to hit a record $3.81 per gallon.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says it currently looks like the US winter will be slightly warmer than normal, but not nearly as warm as last winter in much of the nation. Keep reading →
US President Barack Obama tours the General Electric Plant with GE Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt (L) and plant manager Kevin Sharkey January 21, 2011 in Schenectady, New York.
General Electric recently announced $1.2bn orders for its new FlexEfficiency 60 turbine, which the company claims is a step change for the industry in its ability to supply both baseload power and ramp quickly to smooth intermittent loads from solar and wind. Keep reading →
On the surface, LNG appears to represent a new opportunity where easy profits are for the taking. In reality, producing and delivering LNG is a difficult business, and that business will only get harder as time goes on.
Unlike natural gas, where prices are established regionally, LNG is becoming a global commodity. Market prices depend on global supplies and demand. It is expected supplies will remain constrained for the next three years. Keep reading →
Memo to: Jim Lehrer, PBS; Candy Crowley, CNN; Bob Schieffer, CBS
In re: Energy questions you should be asking when you moderate the upcoming October Presidential debates Keep reading →
Steams rises from the Kawasaki natural gas power station in Kawasaki city, Kanagawa prefecture, south of Tokyo on August 25, 2011.
Japan’s Fukushima disaster, with the subsequent shutdown of most Japanese nuclear power plants, mean US exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Asia will be profitable to 2020 – but maybe not beyond. Keep reading →
‘Delta Boys’: An Energy Documentary Review
By Jared AndersonMany oil and gas analysts know Nigerian energy fundamentals like backs of their hands, effortlessly rattling off statistics like the country’s 2.4 million barrels per day of 2011 oil production accounted for about 3% of the world’s total or the fact that Nigeria was tied with Australia as the world’s fourth largest LNG exporter that same year. And the soon-to-be released documentary “Delta Boys” begins much the same way, identifying Nigeria’s place in the global oil and gas producer hierarchy.
However, few analysts truly comprehend the situation as it exists on the ground. The same goes for the millions of news consumers worldwide that follow the complex web of human rights, environmental, political, economic and energy supply issues that pulse throughout the resource-rich region. Keep reading →