Supplies

The flood of new natural gas supplies from U.S. shale exploration combined with stagnant demand due to the current U.S. economic woes lead natural gas prices to decline across the country by 38-49% from the first six months of 2011 to the first six months of 2012, according to research done by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

U.S. net imports of natural gas fell 25% last year in the face of pushback from ballooning domestic supplies, thanks to the output of shale plays, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.

U.S. net imports of natural gas fell 25% last year in the face of pushback from ballooning domestic supplies, thanks to the output of shale plays, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.

Flaws in a study of potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on drinking water supplies being conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must be addressed in order for the agency’s final report to be credible, according to a review of the study released Tuesday by the Battelle Memorial Institute.

The city of Corpus Christi, TX, is appealing to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to grant it the right to decide whether to sell water to oil and gas producers for hydraulic fracturing and other purposes in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas. One company has approached the city to buy water for industrial purposes, according to Corpus Christi Water Director Gus Gonzalez, as reported by the city’s Caller-Times newspaper. If the TCEQ agrees, the city would be allowed to divert surface water from the Choke Canyon reservoir for mining activities. “If [city] council approves any contract water sales, then all revenues generated will be deposited to the water fund and used to either reduce rates or fund future water supplies,” according to a city document related to the matter.

The U.S. chemical industry “feels overwhelmingly upbeat” these days in part because of abundant, low-cost natural gas supplies from shale resources, but operators need to prepare for a big transformation of their businesses before chemical supply outstrips demand, according to a new report by KPMG LLP.

Exporting U.S. energy supplies overseas to support growth in natural gas transportation in places like China and Korea makes no sense and hopefully will not happen, said Richard Kolodziej, president of NGVAmerica, the Washington, DC-based trade organization advocating vehicles powered by compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Celanese Corp. plans to construct a methanol production facility at its Clear Lake, TX, acetyl complex to take advantage of abundant natural gas supplies in the region, the company said. “The positive developments in the U.S. energy complex and the current and emerging natural gas surplus make it advantageous for us to produce our own methanol requirements for U.S. acetyl production,” said CEO Mark Rohr. “Utilizing existing Celanese infrastructure helps reduce capital requirements while capturing advantages of state-of-the-art technologies.” Following necessary approvals, Celanese intends to construct a 1.3 million metric ton per year facility with anticipated start-up after July 1, 2015. A significant portion of the methanol produced would be used to support the company’s current operations, Celanese said, adding that it expects to partner with one or more others interested in the remaining methanol.

British Columbia (BC) natural gas supplies in both proposed export terminals and burgeoning shale plays hold out the potential for substantial power demand growth over the next 20 years, according to a draft 2012 integrated resource plan (IRP) by BC Hydro. Along with mining, natural gas carries the potential for “very substantial demand growth,” the BC provincial utility officials said.