North American gas "already impacting global markets"

Growth in production of natural gas, crude oil and natural gas liquids in North America is already impacting world markets--even though it may not be till 2016 that the US and Canada start exporting LNG.

Jim Simpson, Global Business Director from Platts and Bentek, told Gas Asia Summit (GAS) delegates that the impressive production of natural gas in the US is already being felt in Henry Hub prices, which had fallen to an average of US$3.37/mmBTU in the past two years. GAS makes its inaugural debut in Asia, under the Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW) 2012.

Simpson cautioned that these recent trends may have repercussions for consumers in the US. He explained that with natural gas producers wanting to export LNG so as to exploit higher global prices, and coal producers wanting to export coal due to lower domestic demand, the cost of electricity generation in the US may increase.

BY Sandra Tan, EMA