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No Respect? Cheap Natural Gas Draws Political Crowd

    • I can’t wait for my power company to pass on the lower cost of electricity generation to me in the form of lower electric rates (begin holding breath…now!)

    • I’m totally done buying anything made by GM. Had it with their years of ignorance, lying, stupidity. they could give me a caddy for 5k and i’ll go buy a Honda.

    • Many electric power plants can use either coal or natural gas. Right now, nationwide, they are using only 25% of their natural gas capacity. Instead of burning clean natural gas that emits 50% less CO2 than coal, they are burning dirty coal because it is cheaper. We need strong action from Congress to mandate more natural gas usage. Doing so would immediately reduce our CO2 footprint and lessen other dirty pollution.

    • We have enough natural gas to last us 100 years. We need to use our huge supply of natural resources to get off of foreign oil and to help create millions of jobs. Natural gas provides us with an immediate solution for CO2 and other pollution, job creation, and dependence on middle eastern oil and it can serve as a bridge fuel while we develop alternatives like solar and wind. The fact is that solar, wind, and other renewables make up less than 1% of our energy needs and will take decades to bring on line in any meaningful share. Natural gas can help get us there in the meantime.

    • Natural gas will play a key role in the energy / climate issues. And one day prices will come back based simply on the fact that shut ins will impact supply, and invetories always fall faster then demand. Its not going to happen overnight. Yes, the hurricane season is starting… but have we not had a moderate summer in the east and south? The Gulf may not be as warm as past years which is where the hurricanes gain their strength. Time will tell. In the meantime, join the Pickens Plan and write your local rep. Lets use more natural gas and less middle east oil.

    • Think renewable. Talk renewable. Everything else is just a short term solution. Certainly we’re not going there overnight, but we should be building technology for the developing world. We did good with cars, movies, the Internet – we need something new to sell India and China.

    • Solar panels do not provide energy that meets the transportation fuel needs of America. Transportation fuels make up the majority of fossil fuel usage. Renewables are not economically feasible energy sources in regard to transportation fuels. Electricity in this country is cheap. Electric capacity to meet the demands of electric cars for 150 million working Americans does not exist without coal and natural gas. What will Oregonians and Washingtonians do for electricity if everyone is forced into solar renewables. Understand that electricity has it’s limitations in regard to distance of travel on an electric line. In regard to our trade deficit…think “transportation fuels” This is not about popping on a light-switch so much as it is driving here to there. Shipping comercial goods, – transportation fuels are the issue. Renewables should start with local support in the form of tax rebates for solar power on your residential home. Act Locally.

    • Don’t feel bad for the gas companies. They would not be selling gas below their marginal cost to produce. Even at these low prices they are still making plenty of profit. If prices do go up, it just means more profit for them. Enjoy it while you can.

    • There are 10 million CNG cars on the road already.
      Peak OIl is a waa-waa.
      The OIl Age is ending with a whimper.
      PHEVs are but a few years away.
      A 20-year global economic boom is in the offing.. Actually, without much notice, Asia is growing nicely again already.
      Invest accordingly.

    • Natural Gas is cheap and will stay cheap as long as we keep importing it. There are 4 LNG plants along the Gulf coast that are ouputting a capacity of 6 billion cubic ft/d. As for oil dependence, getting off of OPEC just won’t happen until US tarrifs the imports to meet what it costs for American companies to produce it. Motiva Industries imports an avg of 1 million bopd. Guess why. Motiva is half owned by Shell and half by, guess who, SAUDI ARAMCO!!!!! We will not be able to keep American Energy jobs as long as this is allowed. Oh, and where did 19 of the 9/11 terrorists come from? Saudi Arabia. Go figure.

    • Its hard to be bullish on natural gas. However, that fact may be its salvation.

      Real American, I am afraid that “renewable” is exactly what India and China will be selling to the US. They will be building wind and solar power for US markets using energy produced with coal. Natural gas, however, and especially the technology to produce gas shale is something the US can sell to India and China (India will however have to change its regulatory regime before unconventional gas can be produced there).

      Yes, sadly gas producers do sell gas at prices below their marginal cost to produce. It happens quite often in this market. Why? It becomes a cost forward. Cash flow is necessary to pay the bills, even if cash flow is lower than the initial expenditure, it becomes necessary to keep it coming. The other reason gas producers will keep drilling is that archaic leasing laws in some states force gas producers to drill in order to keep their leases. Otherwise, when gas prices do go up, they will no longer have the lease and a competitor will likely have leased the area their initial drilling proved-up.

      Those 10 million CNG cars on the road? Mostly in Iran, India, Indonesia, and other countries, not the US. PHEV? Those will end up fueled by coal and natural gas. Natural gas is currently the second largest fuel for electric generation.

      Natural gas is abundant and we are only at the beginning of the transition to unconventional sources like gas shales. When the rest of the world begins adapting the technology that has been developed in the US for production of gas shales, it will be abundant in most of the world. The only constraint on natural gas supplies in the near future will be low prices that do not justify the capital required to drill a well (which is still less than the capital required to build a wind plant) and put in pipelines (again less costly than “smart grids”). The only other restraint on gas supply will be distortions in the energy market created by politics.

      Imports of LNG are probably not a problem. The cost to move and process LNG is much higher than the current price of gas, so if those plants (which are mostly idle at the moment) actually bring in LNG, they are doing so at a significant loss simply to generate cash flow. For the past five years, LNG imports have only supplied about 1-3% of the US market. The US actually exports some LNG from Alaska. The current volume of imports of LNG are about 49 Bcf per month (source EIA). Those cargoes are mostly from Trinidad, with Egypt and Norway being the other two exporters of US LNG arrivals. No cargoes of LNG from Saudi Arabia have ever arrived in the US. Thet volume of LNG imports is only 16% of all the gas imported into the US, and the rest comes by pipeline from Canada. Obviously, the LNG plants in the Gulf Coast are not operating anywhere near capacity and probably never will. Some are already considering the possibility of exports. Those are the operations I would avoid as an investor, since they are not cost-competitive and likely will never be utilized at capacity as long as gas shale keeps producing. Since there are already estimates that the Barnett may produce for the next century, I wouldn’t invest in LNG import facilities. However, Shell is planning LNG imports for Mexico- to be used to supply California with electricity- to supply all those PHEVs!!!

    • to learn more about natural gas and shale plays in Europe, visit the blot

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