LNG

The American Gas Association said the state of Nebraska’s state legislature became the 26th state to pass fuel choice legislation in a unanimous and bipartisan vote, securing the protection of energy choice for consumers in a majority of states across the country.

The AGA explained that consumer energy choice preserves access to safe, clean and affordable energy resources including natural gas that offer a sustainable pathway to the shared goal of reducing emissions while maintaining affordability, reliability and quality of life for Americans.

“Thanks to the bipartisan action of now 26 state governments, more than 157 million Americans and 58 million households have a protected choice when it comes to how to fuel their homes and businesses,” said AGA President and CEO Karen Harbert.

Natural gas usage

“The average home using natural gas for space heating, water heating, cooking and clothes drying has about 18 percent lower carbon dioxide emissions than those attributable to an all-electric home, and the average family using natural gas for those purposes saves an average of $1,132 per year,” explained Harbert.

“Over the past 10 years, American families have saved a total of $125 billion thanks to natural gas,” she stated.

“Those are numbers we can be proud of. They also highlight how harmful natural gas bans would be for American families,” Harbert stated.

The AGA represents more than 200 local energy companies that deliver natural gas throughout the US.

There are more than 77 million residential, commercial and industrial natural gas customers in the US, of which 95 percent, or around 73M customers, receive their gas from AGA members.

Fuel choice legislation preserves access to natural gas in homes and businesses in states that have enacted them across America.

Nebraska became the 26th state to pass such a law, joining Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

Bipartisan moves

“Every state to pass fuel choice legislation has done so in a bipartisan manner,” said the AGA.

“Since 1990, emissions from the natural gas distribution system have declined by 70 percent, even as demand for and usage of natural gas has increased with natural gas served to 23.4 million more consumers and the number of miles of distribution pipeline increasing by 59 percent,” the AGA noted.

US Natural gas is currently 3.3 times more affordable than electricity and expected to remain substantially more cost-efficient through at least to 2050.

“The affordability of natural gas is a critical reason why more than 500,000 families signed up for natural gas space heating, rather than electric heat pumps, over the past five years,” the AGA said.

The American Gas Association and partner organizations have filed an initial brief with the US Court of Appeals in a legal challenge against three United States Department of Energy rules that limit customer access to energy-efficient natural gas products.

The American Gas Association (AGA), the industry group representing over 200 utility companies delivering natural gas throughout the US, said the Administration of President Joe Biden has moved to block pending approvals of liquid natural gas export permits to please climate activists in an election year.

“While hailed as a victory by climate advocacy groups, the decision could ultimately increase total global emissions, with US LNG having 50 percent lower supply chain emissions than Russian natural gas,” said the AGA.

“Natural gas has been the single biggest factor in reducing US greenhouse-gas emissions and could have the same effect around the world,” explained the AGA.

AGA President and Chief Executive Karen Harbert said the future shortages of American natural gas on global markets would result in higher energy costs for US allies, cause energy shortages in the developing world and would please other gas producers like Russia and Iran.

Economic growth

“The United States should not undercut our allies or fund our enemies with a policy that will increase global emissions and hamstring an engine of economic growth,” stated Harbert.

“Freezing approvals for LNG export terminals should be reconsidered immediately,” she said.

The AGA lobbies on behalf of the local energy utilities that deliver natural gas throughout the US to more than 77 million residential, commercial and industrial natural gas customers of which 73M customers receive their gas from AGA members.

“While some advocates against increasing LNG exports have suggested that sending more natural gas overseas could increase domestic prices for US consumers, the government’s own data disproves that theory,” said the AGA.

Analysis from the US Energy Information Administration have suggested that boosting LNG exports would have a minimal impact on US prices thanks to the significant quantities of natural gas available in the US.

Projects likely affected

Four key LNG export plants are expecting to be affected by the US Administration’s blocking policy.

The projects at risk of delay include at least one in Texas and three in Louisiana. They are Sempra Infrastructure’s Port Arthur venture as well as Commonwealth LNG, the Energy Transfer project at Lake Charles and Venture Global’s proposed Calcasieu Pass II (CP2) project.

The last review of US LNG export projects was in 2018, though Biden is seen having moved to act in an election year to boost his environmentalist credentials.

Biden warned that climate change was “the existential threat of our time” in his revised policy on LNG.

“During this period, we will take a hard look at the impacts of LNG exports on energy costs, America’s energy security and our environment,” the President declared.

LNG stabiliser

The AGA concluded that freezing American LNG export permits would have a slowing effect on US economic growth, taking away significant potential job growth while handing an economic victory to America’s adversaries overseas.

“Exports of LNG act as a stabilizing pull factor, with demand that encourages producers to avoid sharply reducing production when faced with low domestic prices,” the AGA noted.

The AGA was founded in 1918 and more than 100 years later in the 2020s natural gas met more than 30 percent of energy needs in the US.

The American Gas Association (AGA) welcomes a new report that examines regulatory changes that will support investments and infrastructure improvements necessary to support broader energy system resilience.

The American Gas Association (AGA) has filed for a re-hearing and clarification on a regulatory clampdown on interstate natural gas facilities by saying that the greenhouse-gas emissions issue is being misused by government.

The American Gas Association (AGA) has condemned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s new permit process for US natural gas pipelines, saying FERC’s policy change opens the way for emissions criteria to take precedence over the energy needs of ordinary Americans.

The US Potential Gas Committee (PGC) has released its two-yearly report showing that the LNG exporting nation has record natural gas resources in the prime basins in terms of recoverable gas and reserves.

The Atlantic Area has the largest reserves following by the Mid-Continent, the Rocky Mountains and the Gulf Coast, where most liquefaction and export plants are located, including the offshore Gulf of Mexico.

“Technically recoverable resources, those in the ground but not yet recovered, total 3,368 trillion cubic feet, “ said the PCC report.

“When you add in the recovered gas, the total gas (resources plus reserves) rises to a record 3,863 Tcf, up slightly from the comparable year-end 2018 assessment,” it stated.

The PCC year-end assessment of the nation’s estimated natural gas resource base was released at a virtual event hosted by the American Gas Association.

“This report affirms that Americans will have the clean natural gas that they need now and well into the future,” said Richard Meyer, Vice President, Energy Markets, Analysis and Standards for the AGA.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has temporarily slowed drilling activity, but the US continues robust natural gas production relative to history,” explained Meyer.

“Our total gas account as a measure of future supplies is as high as ever and, with supportive policies in place to ensure reliable supply, this vast energy resource is available to meet our energy needs and to support US and global commitments to lowering emissions,” he added.

The PGC’s year-end 2020 resource-specific assessment of 3,368 Tcf includes 3,212 Tcf of gas potentially recoverable from “traditional” reservoirs (conventional, tight sands, carbonates, and shales) and 157 Tcf in coalbed gas reservoirs.

The PGC consists of approximately 80 knowledgeable and highly experienced volunteer members who work in the natural gas exploration, production, transportation, and distribution industries and the technical services and consulting sectors.

The PGC biennial assessment is regarded as the most comprehensive report of the potential for future natural gas supplies in the US.

Since its founding in the early 1960s, the sole purpose of the PGC has been to organize and train geoscientists, engineers and others for the timely preparation and dissemination of the two-yearly assessments of the natural gas resource base.

According to the report, the Atlantic Area contains 39 percent of total US gas resources, followed by the Mid-Continent with 18 percent.

The Rocky Mountains has 17 percent of the potential future supply, while the Gulf Coast (including the Gulf of Mexico) contains 16 percent.

“Changes in the total assessment from year-end 2018 to year-end 2020 arose primarily from the evaluation of recent drilling, well tests, and subsequent production data from these four areas.” said the report.

The PGC pointed out that it also benefits from the input of respected technical advisors (most of whom are former active members), together with representatives of the gas pipeline and gas distribution industries and a professionally diverse group of observers representing federal and state government agencies, academia, industry and research organizations, and commercial firms in both the US and Canada.

In 1984 the PGC was incorporated as a non-profit, tax-exempt entity in the State of Colorado.

The PGC reports its assessments of potential resources in three categories of decreasing geological certainty:

1)Probable resources (discovered but unconfirmed resources associated with known fields and field extensions; also undiscovered resources in new pools in both productive and non-productive areas of known fields);

2) Possible resources (undiscovered resources associated with new field/pool discoveries in known productive formations in known productive areas); and

3) Speculative resources (undiscovered resources associated with new field/pool discoveries in as-yet non-productive areas). 

The American Gas Association has elected Kimberly S. Greene of Atlanta, Georgia-based Southern Company Gas to Chair the AGA Board for 2022 at a challenging time for the US natural gas industry and a landmark time for the growing LNG export sector.

The American Gas Association said 151.7 billion cubic feet of domestic natural gas was delivered in the United States on February 14 and 149.8 Bcf on February 15, setting a record for the largest demand for a two-day period ever as extreme cold gripped the nation.

The American Gas Association, the industry group representing over 200 utility companies delivering natural gas throughout the US, said its members had recently invested $3.8 million per day on energy efficiency programs.