The Hill News

American consumers and businesses are currently reaping a windfall from the lowest natural gas prices in years. Cheap gas has reduced heating and electric bills for millions of households, while industries using natural gas as a feedstock or boiler fuel have realized huge production cost savings. But at the same time $2.50 gas at the wellhead has caused many drilling companies to reduce production and move their rigs to more profitable oil plays.   Simply put, the current price for natural gas is too low to sustain the pace of drilling and production that has occurred in recent years.

As with all commodities, the price of natural gas is determined by supply and demand. Today the supply is abundant, a consequence of the shale gas revolution, while demand is muted due to a sluggish economy and relatively mild winter. Because of America’s large and growing reserves of natural gas, potential supply will exceed anticipated domestic demand for many years to come! .

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