Energy Prospectus

Natural Gas Prices Poised To Rise As Exports Boom. The Oil Price. New data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) has brought some good news for advocates of U.S. natural gas production. In three of the first five months of 2017, the United States exported more natural gas than it imported, reversing a trend of net-imports that’s endured for nearly sixty years. Rising exports, fueled by a the shale boom which has seen a marked increase in U.S. natural gas production, have been facilitated by new infrastructure and rising demand outside the U.S., most notably in Mexico and eastern Canada. The United States began importing large amounts of Canadian natural gas in 1958, when the TransCanada natural gas pipeline was completed. Significant quantities of Canadian natural gas continue to flow over the border, chiefly through pipelines in Idaho and Montana. In March 2017, U.S. natural gas exports to Canada reached 3.21 billion cubic feet/day, nearly breaking a record of 3.25 bcf/d set in 2012. Imports of Canadian natural gas, which reached a peak of 12 bcf/day in 2007, were around 8 bcf/day.

US natural gas output will grow more than expected next year, says Dept of Energy. CNBC. U.S. drillers will produce more natural gas next year than previously expected as exports rise and gas-fired plants generate more electricity, the Department of Energy reported on Tuesday. The department's Energy Information Administration hiked its output forecast by 1.2 percent, or nearly 1 billion cubic feet per day, in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook released on Tuesday. EIA projected that drillers would turn out 77.34 billion cubic feet a day in 2018, up from its prior estimate of 76.42 bcf per day. That amounts to growth of 3.9 bcf per day next year. "Forecast record natural gas production in 2018 coincides with an expected rise in electricity generation from natural-gas fired power plants and a 23% increase in U.S. natural gas exports," EIA Acting Administrator Howard Gruenspecht said in a statement.

U.S. emerging as powerful force in LNG trade. E&E News. The United States is rapidly becoming a net exporter of natural gas for the first time in 60 years. That's according to data from the Census Bureau and the U.S. Energy Information Administration. While imports of gas are flat or falling, exports continue to rise, and the data give weight to government analysts' conviction that the United States is on track to become a net energy exporter, possibly as soon as within a decade. EIA noted in a report yesterday that during the first half of 2017, the United States exported more natural gas than it imported in three of the first five months. New Census Bureau data show that, by value, the United States was again a net exporter in June 2017, selling about $593 million worth of natural gas to the world while importing $566 million via gas pipelines from Canada and as liquefied natural gas. That means the United States sold more gas to foreign trade partners than it imported for four of the first six months of the year.

READ: http://www.oilandgas360.com/59-year-rec ... ince-1958/

Natural gas trade with Mexico is much more one-sided, with vastly more exports to Mexico than imports. Gas exports to Mexico are currently nearly at record levels, averaging over 4 Bcf/d in 2017. This value has increased quickly, as in 2010 the U.S. was exporting only 0.91 Bcf/d to its southern neighbor. Similar dynamics are influencing trade with Mexico in both natural gas and refined products. In both cases, Mexican production is declining, while demand is increasing. This creates an opportunity for American fuels to fill the gap, and steady expansion of export infrastructure in the U.S. makes continued export growth likely.

A former commissioner of the Texas Railroad Commission told me that he expected exports of natural gas to Mexico to exceed 7 Bcf per day by 2020.