Exporting 65 - Marcellus Drilling News

EIA Issues Early Release Summary of Annual Energy Outlook

January 24, 2012January 24, 2012

Yesterday, the U.S. Energy Information Association (EIA) issued the 2012 Annual Energy Outlook (AEO2012) Early Release Reference case, which provides updated projections for U.S. energy markets through 2035 (a copy is embedded below). This Early Release Overview assumes no changes in current laws and regulations and is the prelude to the full AEO due out this spring. The AEO provides a comprehensive snapshot of the entire energy picture for the U.S. in particular, but in the wider context of world energy supplies. It is relied on by the government, politicians and the energy industry.

Among the observations and predictions in the Early Release for natural gas:

Exporting | Industrywide Issues

New EIA Study Says Exporting Shale Gas Raises Prices at Home

January 20, 2012January 20, 2012

In August 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy (DOE/FE) requested from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) an analysis of what exporting natural gas will do to the domestic market and consumers. The DOE is responsible for reviewing and approving applications to export oil and natural gas, hence the request.

Yesterday the EIA delivered their analysis (a copy of the 43-page report is embedded below). Their conclusions? Increased natural gas exports lead to higher domestic natural gas prices, increased domestic natural gas production, reduced domestic natural gas consumption, and increased natural gas imports from Canada via pipeline.

Exporting | Industrywide Issues

Details on Proposed LNG Export Facility in Texas

January 18, 2012January 18, 2012

More details have become known about a proposed new liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporting facility to be built by Gulf Coast LNG Export. The facility, if approved by the U.S. Department of Energy, would be the country’s largest LNG exporting facility, exporting some 2.8 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day to other countries.

Commodity Price | Exporting | Industrywide Issues

Is the Shale Rush Almost Over? One Analyst Says Yes

January 16, 2012January 16, 2012

Jack Barnes, writing for Money Morning, analyzes the price of natural gas and why it’s so low—and what it ultimately means. He says that numerous shale plays in the U.S. do contribute to an overabundance of supply. But the real culprit, according to Barnes, is that major drillers are going after natural gas liquids (NGL), which can be used in a variety of ways. NGL are closely aligned with the higher price of oil and more valuable. In the process of going after NGL, “dry gas” (or methane) is recovered in the process too. It is the scramble for NGL that leads to an oversupply of methane, and that oversupply keeps natural gas prices low.

Exporting | Industrywide Issues

Five Applications Filed with DOE to Export Natural Gas

November 14, 2011November 14, 2011

An issue that will be debated in coming months (and years) is whether or not to export some of the natural gas that America has in abundance now that the miracle of hydraulic fracturing has released it from shale formations. Some say it will help the U.S. achieve a better trade balance with other countries once again. Others say exporting will keep prices for natural gas higher than they otherwise would be for consumers.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has so far received five applications from companies that want to create terminals to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to overseas markets—one of them has been approved. Just six years ago the natural gas industry was doing all it could to import LNG from foreign countries.

Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | TC Energy/TransCanada

U.S. Will Export Marcellus Natural Gas to Canada by 2020

September 14, 2011September 14, 2011

The TransCanada Canadian Mainline is an 8,762 mile natural gas pipeline that spans Canada from the Alberta/Saskatchewan border east to the Québec/Vermont border, along the way connecting with other natural gas pipelines in Canada and the U.S. With respect to the U.S., the gas today flows one way: from Canada to the U.S. But NGI Shale Daily reports that by 2020, the gas will be flowing the other way.

Dominion Exploration | Energy Companies | Exporting | Industrywide Issues

Thorny Issue: Dominion Files Request to Export Shale Gas

September 9, 2011September 9, 2011

Cove Point Terminal - Maryland One of the strongest arguments in favor of drilling for Marcellus and other shale gas in the U.S. is that it provides a cheap alternative fuel for Americans—a “home grown” energy source that benefits everyone. It’s a simple and undeniable fact: Cheap energy translates into economic prosperity for all citizens. Cheap energy makes it easier for businesses to produce goods and services, and that means jobs.

Energy companies often make the “cheap domestic energy” argument when talking about the benefits of shale gas drilling—rightfully so. But when those same companies then start exporting natural gas, well, it’s a tad hypocritical. Exporting leads to less supplies here at home, and less supplies means higher prices. Energy companies will argue we have more than enough—an excess of natural gas—and by exporting they create more jobs here at home. But others (like MDN) are not so sure that argument holds up, especially for a nascent industry with huge potential to transform the energy picture here at home.

Range Sending Natural Gas Liquids to Canadian Cracker Plant

September 9, 2011September 9, 2011

Range Resources is not waiting for a new multi-billion dollar cracker plant to be built in the Marcellus region to process the natural gas liquids they’re producing in the region. Instead, Range is going to send its natural gas liquids to Canada for cracking. Natural gas liquids contain ethane which can be processed or “cracked” to produce ethylene, a raw material used to make plastics.

Marcellus Shale Gas May Soon be Exported – To California

July 7, 2011July 7, 2011

In an astonishing reversal, the operator of a natural gas pipeline that spans the United States is proposing to change the direction the gas flows through the pipeline in order to sell shale gas from the Eastern U.S., particularly the Marcellus, to the Midwest and Western U.S.

PA Residents: Gas Drilling? Yes. Gas Exporting? No.

June 13, 2011June 13, 2011

Many Pennsylvania residents are in favor of shale gas drilling, but exporting the gas makes them mad.

Foreign Investment in America’s Shale Gas: Is it Good or Bad?

April 11, 2011April 11, 2011

One of the main arguments in favor of Marcellus shale gas drilling is that America can become more energy independent—less dependent on the energy (oil and gas) from other countries. It is an argument that strikes a chord with many Americans. The argument also goes that much of the gas produced in the region will stay “local” and cause natural gas prices to remain low for consumers. But what if foreign companies and foreign-backed government entities start buying leaseholds and come here and drill? Will the gas remain here, or will it be exported?