Projected

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) says the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP) could reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the power generation sector 29-36% in 2030 from levels observed in 2005, depending upon a series of different scenarios, including one that relies heavily on oil and natural gas.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) says the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP) could reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the power generation sector 29-36% in 2030 from levels observed in 2005, depending upon a series of different scenarios, including one that relies heavily on oil and natural gas.

Natural gas and oil production are projected to increase in nearly all of the nation’s shale plays and tight oil formations through September, particularly in the Utica Shale, now a separate line item of the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Drilling Productivity Report (DPR).

Natural gas production in the Appalachian Basin, where the Utica Shale was once thought to be wetter and the Marcellus Shale continues to defy expectations, is projected to reach 34 Bcf/d by 2035, according to a revised estimate released Thursday by ICF International.

The use of natural gas for power generation will continue to expand, the industrial sector of the U.S. economy will see a modest revival, and the demand for natural gas vehicles (NGV) will continue to rise through 2035, according to analysts at Navigant Consulting Inc.

Based on projections of flat natural gas demand, record production and unseasonably warm weather, natural gas prices this winter are expected to be flat compared with a year ago, when Henry Hub prices averaged $3.47/MMBtu, according to the Natural Gas Supply Association’s (NGSA) 13th Annual Winter Outlook.

Range Resources Corp.’s management team is “convinced” that its best wells are still to come in the Marcellus Shale after some new wells punched into a previously drilled area with five years of production history were “substantially better than previous wells,” COO Ray Walker said.

Global demand for natural gas is projected to grow at about 2% per year, about twice the rate for oil demand. And liquefied natural gas (LNG) capacity, which about doubled from 2000 to 2012 could double again by 2025, according to Ernst & Young (E&Y). But it’s still early days in the U.S. LNG export game, and opinions vary widely on what will happen.

The continuing shale gas boom is having a “massive impact” on the U.S. energy market, particularly a revival for various smart grid developments, according to a report released by IMS Research, a unit of the global research/consulting firm IHS.