Page 20 ■ Thursday, April 19, 2012
BAKKEN BREAKOUT WEEKLY Nation & World
Natural gas prices dipping as U.S. supply grows
NEW YORK (AP) — A 10-month slide in natural gas prices took a breather last week after the government said U.S. supplies didn’t grow as much as expect- ed.
just a tenth of a penny April 12 to fi n- ish at $1.983 per 1,000 cubic feet in New York. That’s a 10-year low, but the prices was relatively stable compared with April 11, when fears of surging supplies sent natural gas futures tumbling 2.3 percent to the lowest price since Jan. 28, 2002. If the price would slide to $1.75, it
growing so fast that analysts worry the country’s underground storage facilities could be full by fall and lead to further price declines. Natural gas production has boomed
The U.S. supply of natural gas is The futures contract price slipped by
would be the lowest since March 23, 1999.
for manufacturers that use it to power factories and make chemicals, plastics and other materials. Another benefi t: Electricity costs are lower because natu- ral gas is used to generate about a quarter of the nation’s electric power. From October through March, households spent $868 on average on natural gas, a decline of 17 percent from last winter. Those savings have helped relieve the burden of rising gasoline prices. Households spent $1,940 on gas- oline from October through March, a 7 percent increase from the same period a year ago. There is so much natural gas being
across the country as energy compa- nies employ new drilling techniques to tap previously untouched reserves. The process has raised concerns about water safety and has been banned temporarily in New York and New Jersey. But where it has been allowed, it has led to increases in drilling, job growth and production. The falling price of natural gas has been a boon to homes and businesses that use it for heat and appliances, and
produced — and still in the ground — that drillers, policymakers, economists and natural gas customers are trying to fi gure out what to do with it. Last year, the U.S. produced an average of 63 bil- lion cubic feet of natural gas per day, a 24 percent increase from 2006. But over that period consumption has grown just half as fast. The low price is hurting companies
responsible for bringing gas to market. Drilling in many fi elds is no longer prof- itable, and the stock prices of natural gas drillers are falling in anticipation of de- clining profi ts and scaled-back growth plans. Some of the nation’s biggest natu- ral gas producers, including Chesapeake
Associated Press
Workers stand behind the top of a pump for the hydraulic fracturing process on July 27, 2011 near Claysville, Pa.
Energy, ConocoPhillips and Encana Corp., have announced plans to slow down. Here’s more about what natural gas
is, what it is used for, who makes it and where it comes from:
zations, and likely inspired the Ancient Greeks to build the shrine known as the Oracle of Delphi. In the U.S., the natural
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ground, it is 70 percent to 90 percent methane, a simple molecule of carbon
Continued on next page
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What is it? When natural gas is pulled from the
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