Energy Environmental Blog

"The Real Stimulus: Low-Cost Natural Gas"

Written by Greg Russell | Oct 27, 2012 3:09:26 PM

That's the title to an opinion piece by Daniel Yergin of IHS in the WSJ this past week:  "An unconventional oil and gas revolution is under way in the United States, but its full ramifications are only beginning to be understood. The basic facts are clear enough. Half a decade ago, it was assumed that the U.S. would become a large importer of liquefied natural gas; now the domestic natural gas market is oversupplied, thanks to the ability to produce shale gas through hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling technologies."

More?  On downstream impacts:  "But the energy revolution is having other effects that get less attention. The balance of payments is one. The increase in domestic oil production over the past five years will reduce our oil-import bill this year by about $75 billion. The growth of shale gas will save the U.S. from spending $100 billion a year on imported LNG, which was the likely prospect five years ago."

Very interesting.