As oil prices range around $100 a barrel, the United States is facing a growing surplus in natural gas is dropping in price and gaining market share. In an NPR interview, Wallace S. Wilson Fellow in Energy Studies Amy Myers Jaffe says this glut of natural gas is good news for the domestic economy, household consumers and even U.S. foreign policy. Natural gas producers, however, could very well become “victims of their drilling successes.”
“One of the things I think we’re going to see over time, as the price of natural gas probably is going to stay low, [is] consolidation in the industry. So companies that borrowed and used leverage funds to do all this drilling activity are going to be under increasing pressure. And you’re going to see bigger players step in and buy small companies — we’ve already seen that.”
Jaffe also comments on how natural gas is will change the way the United States views energy, as well as prospects for turning this new energy resource into a profitable export.
- Listen to or read a transcript of Jaffe’s April 11, 2012, NPR interview, “Natural Gas Glut Leads To Lower Prices.” on NPR.