Calling it a two way street, American Gas Association CEO David Parker said natural gas producers should support customer issues such as low-income energy assistance and pipeline safety just as the nation’s natural gas utilities have lent their voice in Congress and elsewhere in support of greater natural gas production to meet growing customer demand.

Participating in a panel discussion about natural gas demand during the 75th annual meeting of the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) in Austin, Parker said, “Natural gas is, after all, America’s fuel of choice. It is America’s fastest growing fuel. It is environmentally friendly, domestically abundant, reliable and provides the greatest value.”

Because of these attributes, Parker noted that demand for natural gas is projected to grow by a whopping 39% during the next 15 years, from its current level of 22.5 Tcf to around 31 Tcf in 2020. He added that the AGA sees growth for natural gas in every market segment by 2020, as follows:

Natural gas currently fuels about 15% of America’s electricity generation, but this proportion could reach 25% by 2020, Parker warned.

Greater natural gas supply advocacy has been a top priority for AGA in recent years. “We have been fighting on Capitol Hill, at the U.S. Department of Energy, at the U.S. Department of the Interior and the White House — fighting on behalf of customers for increased access to new sources of supply, including the inter-mountain west, the Outer Continental Shelf and Alaska,” Parker said. “AGA has been leading the charge for more production tax credits, exploration incentives, streamlined permitting, regulatory certainty and the like.”

The executive added that the organization will continue those efforts in the years ahead. “To put it another way, us ‘downstream’ folks think we have been carrying a lot of the water for upstream folks over the past several years. And now we are hoping that you all will decide to grab the bucket and join us,” he challenged.

Urging natural gas producers to join natural gas utilities in supporting some of their priorities, Parker said, “We are hoping that you will do more to support our downstream issues, which include pipeline safety issues, increased funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, federal support for more research and development, storage, energy education, and more.”

He reminded the audience that various sectors of the industry are all in the same boat when it comes to natural gas price volatility and its detrimental impact on the U.S. economy, energy security and the public’s perception of energy providers. “Make no mistake — whether the issues be upstream or downstream, the water is definitely rising,” Parker said.

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