Wednesday, February 01, 2012

U.S. Producing Natural Gas at Record Levels

The U.S. continued to produce natural gas at record levels in November, according to new data released this week by the Energy Information Administration (see chart above of the 12-month moving average). The record-setting production in November (almost 2.50 trillion cubic feet) was above its year-earlier level by 6.5% and above the level two years ago by 9%.

Over the last five years as unconventional shale gas has become increasingly more accessible due to advanced extraction techniques (fracking and horizontal drilling), gross withdrawals of natural gas have increased by about 25%. Welcome to America's new age of energy abundance with enough natural gas to last well into the 22nd century.

7 Comments:

At 2/02/2012 5:10 AM, Blogger rjs said...

where's it going?

seriously, two thirds of the country has has a warm winter, & the utilities are just starting to convert from coal...

 
At 2/02/2012 2:46 PM, Blogger Jon Murphy said...

where's it going?

Europe. We're getting it to them cheaper than the Ruskies.

 
At 2/02/2012 3:14 PM, Blogger rjs said...

everything i've read suggests we're just starting to gear up to build terminals to export gas; ie:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2011/11/111117-us-natural-gas-export/

can you cite an article or report to indicate US exports to europe?

 
At 2/02/2012 3:35 PM, Blogger Jon Murphy said...

rjs-

I'll have to look tonight when I get home. I'll post when I find one for you.

 
At 2/02/2012 4:48 PM, Blogger Jon Murphy said...

I may have jumped the gun a little bit:
http://www.chron.com/business/article/Report-says-natural-gas-exports-would-raise-U-S-2642905.php

This article is talking about increasing exports to Europe and Asia. I imagine we are exporting already, but we do have export quotas in place.

 
At 2/03/2012 10:33 AM, Blogger VangelV said...

Over the last five years as unconventional shale gas has become increasingly more accessible due to advanced extraction techniques (fracking and horizontal drilling), gross withdrawals of natural gas have increased by about 25%. Welcome to America's new age of energy abundance with enough natural gas to last well into the 22nd century.

Welcome to the new age of capital destruction in the energy industry. To make a profit in shale gas you need around $7 per Mcf. But a warm winter in the east and the need to drill to keep leases has created a glut that has driven wellhead prices down to less than $3. The math does not work so statements such as the one above should be seen for what they are.

 
At 2/03/2012 10:43 AM, Blogger rjs said...

i hadnt really noticed " enough natural gas to last well into the 22nd century" until VangelV pointed it out...that isnt what the EIA says:

New Report by Agency Lowers Estimates of Natural Gas in U.S. - The difficulty and uncertainty in predicting natural gas resources was underscored last week when the Energy Information Administration released a report containing sharply lower estimates. The agency estimated that there are 482 trillion cubic feet of shale gas in the United States, down from the 2011 estimate of 827 trillion cubic feet — a drop of more than 40 percent. The report also said the Marcellus region contained 141 trillion cubic feet of gas. That represents a 66 percent drop from the 410 trillion cubic feet estimate offered in the agency’s last report. The Energy Information Administration said the sharp downward revisions to its estimates were informed by more data. “Drilling in the Marcellus accelerated rapidly in 2010 and 2011, so that there is far more information available today than a year ago,” Under the agency’s new estimates, the Marcellus shale, which was previously thought to hold enough gas to meet the entire nation’s demand for 17 years at current consumption rates, contains instead a six-year supply. The report comes just five months after the United States Geological Survey released its own estimate of 84 trillion cubic feet for the Marcellus shale.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/us/new-data-not-so-sunny-on-us-natural-gas-supply.html

so how much of that 6 year supply do you all want to send to europe at below cost?

 

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