The U.S. is seeing its natural gas production decrease as several countries around the world are looking for new energy suppliers due to sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
While the U.S. is the world’s largest producer of natural gas, the two regions of the country most productive of the energy resource — the Appalachians and West Texas — are seeing production growth diminish. [bold, links added]
Natural gas companies attribute the slowdown to a lack of adequate pipeline infrastructure.
Fuel prices had already begun to surge last fall, and following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, they have increased even further.
This comes as European nations look to the U.S. for more liquefied natural gas as Europe looks to end its dependence on Russian fuel.
The Appalachian region, which supplied about 37 percent of U.S. gas last year, has seen its production slow due to the difficulties energy firms face in building new pipes to funnel gas out of the Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia areas.
Analysts are predicting that the Texas-New Mexico basin will also suffer significant declines next year if energy firms do not begin building new pipelines soon.
The Permian Shale basin supplied nearly 20 percent of all U.S. gas in 2021.
In Europe, the largest economies import about 18.3 billion cubic feet per day from Russia while the U.S. can only export about 9.8 billion cubic feet per day as liquefied natural gas.
Appalachia has had steady U.S. gas production gains over the last decade, growing by an average of 36 percent per year from 2010 to 2019.
Pipeline construction has waned, and output growth dipped to just a four percent average in 2020 and 2021.
EQT Corp said on its earnings call that production growth will not return to its prior pace until there are more pipelines.
Analysts at Bank of America estimated that Appalachia would see “little to no production growth” without new pipes.
One project, the Atlantic Coast pipeline, had to be canceled due to the rise in production costs.
The Southwest’s Permian Shale is the biggest oil field in the U.S., producing oil that comes out of the ground with a lot of associated gas.
Crude prices are staying at around $100 a barrel and analysts expect energy firms to drill for more oil in the Permian with the associated gas filling existing pipes in 2023.
From 2012 to 2020, Permian gas output saw a growth average of 17 percent per year before it slowed to 8 last year.
Read more at Fox Business
Heaven forbid Biden would make it easy to update or lay new pipelines to make America industry-friendly again !!
The Biden Administration’s “hostile” attitude towards the oil & gas industry is part of this. The other big “driver” in the lack of new pipeline infrastructure is the endless LITIGATION BONANZA foisted on the sector by the Environmental NGO’s. Until they are held accountable & reeled in on the permitting process, GOOD LUCK constructing any kind of major pipeline. So, my question is simple. When is the American public going to get tired of the TYRANNY of this fanatical minority?
I’d say November is a good time to start putting the screws to them. Hope it’s not too late !
Like all the rest of the Globalists Biden is opposed to any Fossil Fuels for America which should be another reason for his Impeachment on the grounds of Treason and being a Globalists Bottom Dweller
As we already know the Democrats are in the pockets of the Deep Ecologist who want to return us to living a primative life and making the seasonal sacrifice just like the Pagan Aztec did