Matt Zborowski
Staff Writer
As you pick up the latest edition of OGJ after another volatile day in oil and gas, collapse into your favorite chair that's stationed next to your natural gas-fueled fireplace, and take in the latest industry news, you can take solace in the fact that it won't cost you an arm and a leg to stay warm this winter.
Much to the chagrin of suppliers, gas prices have slumped recently amid average seasonal temperatures after being held up last winter by colder-than-average temperatures. As with the decline in oil prices, US consumers are reaping the rewards, and their appreciation shows.
Hydrocarbon of the people
A survey released last month of more than 2,000 US adults, conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of Honeywell's UOP business, found that 57% of respondents consider gas "the most cost-effective way to heat homes," while just 20% named electricity, 19% wood stoves, and 3% fuel oil.
Six in 10 adults said they use gas for at least one household task. Home heating was most common at 49%, followed by cooking with either a stove or oven at 37%, clothes drying 24%, and barbecue hook-up 11%.
Interest in using gas, particularly among those who already use it for one utility, outpaces current usage, with 68% and 58% of respondents respectively being very interested or somewhat interested in gas for either heating the home or cooking. Forty-six percent said they are interested in acquiring a gas-powered clothes dryer, 40% for a BBQ hook-up, and 36% to fuel a vehicle.
With personal use and household budgets in mind, 56% said they support expanded development of infrastructure-including processing facilities and transportation pipelines-while just 10% opposed such investments. That supports a 2013 poll of more than 1,000 US adults conducted by Gallup that found 65% of respondents-including a majority of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, respectively-want the US to place more emphasis on producing domestic energy using gas.
Recognized by many for its abundance and as a cleaner, less-expensive alternative to oil, gas has become something of a compromise between those who advocate increased exploration and production of fossil fuels and those who believe the US should reduce its dependence.
But respondents to the Ipsos survey were also aware of the greater impact of gas, as an overwhelming 75% believe that US gas exploration and development is "driving economic resurgence in the nation, specifically in sectors including manufacturing."
Settling on gas
With companies slashing their 2015 exploration and production budgets left and right, gas has been seen as a viable alternative to oil. Frisco, Tex.-based Comstock Resources Inc., as an example, has suspended oil drilling on properties in the Eagle Ford and Tuscaloosa Marine shale (TMS), turning its attention to Haynesville gas (OGJ Online, Dec. 19, 2014). The company "believes that improved completion technology, including longer laterals, will provide strong returns on drilling projects at current natural gas prices."
The Haynesville is near two LNG export projects either under construction or in the works-Cheniere Energy Inc.'s Sabine Pass, and ExxonMobil Corp.'s and Qatar Petroleum International's Golden Pass-respectively residing in Cameron Parish, La. and Sabine Pass, Tex. Both terminals are also capable of receiving LNG.
Ventyx data compiled by Bloomberg indicates that deliveries to onshore pipelines from LNG terminals in Maryland and Massachusetts on Jan. 8 hit their highest point since December 2007, prior to the US boom in shale gas supply. Low oil prices forcing down LNG prices has made it economic for companies to import to the eastern US as an alternative to purchasing locally produced gas, whose prices are high because of insufficient midstream infrastructure.
If the gas glut on the US East Coast is eventually relieved-an investment that one may assume would be supported by a majority of Americans based on the Ipsos poll-consumers in the region would likely benefit from more inexpensive warmth during future winters, only adding to gas's popularity.