Perspectives

The federal government’s budget sequestration has hit the Energy Information Administration (EIA), forcing the agency to suspend publication of its Annual Energy Review (AER) and its companion publication, Energy Perspectives. The publications, which were to be released later this year, were to have included data compiled during 2012. EIA said it will expand its Monthly Energy Review (MER) to incorporate annual data as far back as 1949 for data series from about 70 key tables currently included in AER and MER. The expanded monthly publication will combine historical data usually published in the AER with up-to-date data from the MER. The announcement comes just weeks after EIA said it hoped to expand its monthly 914 survey to include individual reports on 14 states (see NGI, April 8). EIA’s ability to expand its reporting of gas production would hinge on several factors, including the federal government’s budget sequestration, Barbara Mariner-Volpe of EIA’s Office of Energy Statistics said at the time.

The federal government’s budget sequestration has hit the Energy Information Administration (EIA), forcing the agency to suspend publication of its Annual Energy Review (AER) and its companion publication, Energy Perspectives. The publications, which were to have come out later this year, were to have included data compiled during 2012.

The prospective liquefied natural gas (LNG) export business is alive and well, but it is not for the under-capitalized or inexperienced, according to three knowledgeable observers with perspectives from both coasts and the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) who NGI contacted earlier this month.

Natural gas is seen as a fuel of the future by the authors of Statoil’s “Energy Perspectives 2012” report. “Global gas demand is projected to increase by 60% by 2040. Positive drivers include significant new available supply at moderate costs and environmental policies,” said Chief Analyst Eirik Waerness. Natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel, and Statoil believes that natural gas will serve as an important and cost-efficient means to meet the challenge of global warming, he said. In aggregate, the fossil fuel share of the global energy mix is expected to drop from 81% in 2010 to 73% in 2040: “In OECD Europe, renewables is expected to more than double towards 2040, and becoming the second most important fuel with a 24% share of the energy mix in the region,” said Waerness. This development is driven by climate and environmental policies, energy security concerns, as well as price and cost developments, he said.