2015

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s decision earlier this month to delay completion of a review of the new five-year (2010-2015) leasing program (see Daily GPI, Feb. 11) had the same effect as reinstating the moratorium on oil and natural gas drilling in the federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), a high-ranking Republican told a House panel Wednesday.

If pipeline and storage infrastructure keep pace, natural gas produced from U.S. shale basins is expected to account for 18% of Lower 48 supply by 2015, which is well ahead of the 8% of supply that shale gas accounted for in 2007, according to EnCana Corp. The Calgary-based producer, whose leaseholds are spread across unconventional gas basins in the United States and Canada, is shooting to be the leader of the pack, executives said Thursday.

If pipeline and storage infrastructure can keep pace, natural gas produced from U.S. shale basins is expected to account for 18% of Lower 48 supply by 2015 — compared with the 8% of supply that shale gas accounted for in 2007, according to EnCana Corp. The Calgary-based producer, whose leaseholds are spread across unconventional gas basins in the United States and Canada, is shooting to be the leader of the pack, executives said Thursday.

In the 2012-2015 time frame, liquefied natural gas (LNG) makes sense for the Pacific Northwest, which could be losing Canadian and U.S. Rockies supplies by then, according to a developer of a proposed Oregon LNG receiving terminal. And the prices of LNG supplies will be very attractive, NorthernStar Natural Gas CEO Paul Soanes said at an energy conference Thursday in Seattle.

The era of cheap natural gas is over, most would say. Talk of a 32 Tcf market by 2015 has been supplanted, in part, by a growing debate over how best to encourage efficiency and conservation among consumers, with the goal of lowering prices for all.

The era of cheap natural gas is over, most would say. Talk of a 32 Tcf market by 2015 has been supplanted, in part, by a growing debate over how best to encourage efficiency and conservation among consumers.

The Department of Energy (DOE) sent out a notice last Tuesday requesting public and stakeholder comments on the outlook for natural gas supply and demand through 2015. The agency is looking for input on what role the federal government should play, what data and analyses are required to complete such an assessment, and what might be among the methods for balancing supply and demand, such as demand side management practices or alternative supply sources for example.

The U.S. natural gas demand growth of 2% a year through 2015 will outstrip the 1% growth each year in supply, highlighting the importance of frontier development in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, Arctic regions and Eastern Canada, according to executives at last week’s Ziff Energy Group North American Gas Strategies Conference in Houston. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports also will play an ever-increasing role, with up to a five-fold increase in the next six years, and with better technology, coalbed methane (CBM) also may play a growing role.

Gas markets should see sustained growth from now until 2015,according to a study just completed by the Canadian Energy ResearchInstitute (CERI). Demand is projected to grow in all markets withthe highest growth rates coming from use of gas for powergeneration.