Low natural gas prices could stunt shale play development.

摘要

Although one investment bank head has suggested that unconventional shale plays will see decades of opportunity growth leading to US oil production domination in the global market by 2035, Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. CEO Bobby Tudor has suggested that natural gas prices could cause problems in US industry development. He called current prices, with natural gas at 13.51/MM Btu on Nov. 12, unsustainable, explaining that sizable players like ExxonMobil and BHP Billiton have an advantage over smaller companies in that they can withstand early losses in anticipation of future gains, while smaller companies have instead been returning to oil production. Tudor cited 16/MM Btu as a natural gas price which would balance production costs with genuine profit.