Unconventional US Gas Offsets Lower Canadian, LNG Imports

摘要

US gas supply and demand never seem to be in balance. Either the country has too much supply and not enough demand, as in the 1980s and much of the 1990s, or too much demand and not enough supply, as in the 1970s and for much of this decade. Now the pendulum may be swinging back toward ample supply. US producers delivered more gas in 2007 than in any year since 2001 and the second-highest volume since 1989. Judging by Energy Information Administration (EIA) figures for the first quarter that show an average year-on-year gain of over 3 billion cubic feet per day, producers are on track to top that by as much as 6% in 2008 — much more than the 2.9% the EIA itself is forecasting (WGI Apr.2,p8).