| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front Economy |
| Natural gas glut could hit U.S. |
| 2009-02-02 |
| As many as seven massive natural gas export terminals are expected to start up overseas this year, expanding worldwide capacity by 20 percent and flooding markets with new supplies of the key power plant and heating fuel. Dozens of new tankers capable of carrying natural gas in a liquefied form are slated to hit the seas. Just as these new supplies come on line, worldwide demand is expected to drop as the global recession deepens. Operators of these new facilities are unlikely to cut back production, however, so shipments of liquefied natural gas will most likely head to the deepest markets with the greatest amount of natural gas storage capacity -- the United States. 'Counterintuitive' "It's completely counterintuitive," said Murray Douglas, a global LNG analyst with Wood Mackenzie in Houston, who is predicting U.S. LNG imports will grow 30 percent to 456 billion cubic feet this year and to more than 1.1 trillion cubic feet by 2013. "We don't believe Asia and Europe will be in a position to absorb this new production, and the U.S. is the only market that can take it, that has a large amount of storage." The wave of imports might even be strong enough to challenge growing domestic natural gas production from various shale formations, including the Barnett Shale near Fort Worth and Fayetteville Shale in Arkansas. "This can put pressure on U.S. gas prices and could delay the full development of some of the new shale projects," Douglas said. Other analysts, including Houston-based Waterborne Energy and Raleigh, N.C.-based Pan Eurasia Enterprises, agree that an American gas import surge may be coming. Even the Department of Energy updated its LNG import predictions for 2009 recently to include the possibility of such a surge. Big energy chunk Natural gas accounts for 23 percent of total energy consumed in the U.S., according to the Department of Energy, much of it used to fuel power plants. Twelve percent of the gas comes from foreign suppliers, most of it through pipelines from Canada, and about 3 percent comes from overseas aboard LNG tankers. Changing to liquid Natural gas turns into liquid at minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit. In that condensed form, it can be transported in specially designed oceangoing tankers. When the tankers reach a gasification terminal, the liquid is heated back into gas for transport by pipeline. 2007 was a record year for LNG imports into the U.S., with some 770 billion cubic feet arriving through five terminals. Three terminals came on line in 2008, including Houston-based Cheniere Energy's terminal on the Louisiana side of the Sabine Pass south of Port Arthur and Freeport LNG's terminal on Quintana Island south of Houston. The third, owned by The Woodlands-based Excelerate Energy, is near Boston. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #16 My inlaws in NY have a poorly insulated old house. When the temperature drops below zero and the winds get above 15 mph the oil burner consumes almost a gallon per hour, running wide open, and can't keep the house at 60 degrees. Fortunately such conditions only occure when Al Gore is in town. Insulation matters! |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2009-02-02 20:11 |
| #15 Northeast Philadelphia area, 55-year-old, 1600-sq.-ft-heated rancher at 70 degrees. Uses 3.5 gal of fuel oil per day in the worst of the winter. At $2.50/gal that's $270 per month. You do need better insulation. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2009-02-02 19:47 |
| #14 rw, how well insulated is your house? And do you have window covers that you keep closed at night and during the day when you're not home? Two factors that help us manage our heating bills - which are less than yours despite the fact that we have a much larger house in the northeast where we're currently surrounded by snow and ice. We do, however, heat with heating oil rather than natural gas. |
| Posted by: lotp 2009-02-02 19:43 |
| #13 Thank Rendell and the rest of the donks you guys have put in charge. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2009-02-02 19:09 |
| #12 Here in SE Pennsylvania, PECO raised the Nat. Gas rate by 8.5% effective 1/1/09. |
| Posted by: Tom- Pa 2009-02-02 18:39 |
| #11 windows where closed, house about 1500 sq ft., and i even had the gas company out checking for leaks. When they came i also dropped my pants and bent over as a down payment on the next month |
| Posted by: rabid whitetail 2009-02-02 18:28 |
| #10 our bill for Jan was about $320, about $80 for transmission and distribution by the local company; the rest for the gas and interstate transmission. This is in Maryland (4 bedrooms, two occupied & heated levels, about 1200 sq ft for each level). Last year's bill for the same period was about $200 but it was a 30 period instead of a 34 day period this year. Also, last year the temp ave was 43F and this year 36F (according to the utility). We keep the thermostat at about 64F downstairs which results in an upstair temp of about 69F. |
| Posted by: mhw 2009-02-02 16:19 |
| #9 Remind me never to move to Georgia. Maybe this is too soon but...... |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-02-02 13:55 |
| #8 Damn, RW! That is some expensive gas! In the dead of winter with temps hitting 0, my monthly gas bill comes to $150 and I keep the temp at 71F at all times. And that is a 3 bedroom, 1 loft 2000sf house. It drops to about $25 in the middle of summer when we have the AC on and don't use much heat. Remind me never to move to Georgia. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2009-02-02 13:53 |
| #7 You have to close the windows, rw! |
| Posted by: Darrell 2009-02-02 13:47 |
| #6 Spot, i'm with you on that , they will come up with some excuse like having too pay for these new refineries or whatever. I just don't see how ppl in more morthern states than me (GA) afford heating with natural gas since a couple of years ago my bill came in at about $400 a month |
| Posted by: rabid whitetail 2009-02-02 13:43 |
| #5 We bring it in and can charge the other companies for storage. Works for me. Either way, I still don't think my gas bill will go down. Fortunately, it is pretty cheap to heat the house with and is still cheaper than electricity. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2009-02-02 10:57 |
| #4 Risk, uncertainty, and profit. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2009-02-02 09:25 |
| #3 I guess Pacific Gas & Electric will reduce my bill. (NOT) |
| Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC 2009-02-02 09:23 |
| #2 seven massive natural gas export terminals are expected to start up overseas this year And nobody in the US wants a new import terminal in their backyard. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2009-02-02 08:55 |
| #1 But I suspect that somehow I won't be paying less for natural gas... |
| Posted by: Spot 2009-02-02 07:59 |