FW: Gas price spikes

[Woll, Jr., Edward]

From: Woll, Jr., Edward
Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2014 7:20 AM
To: Weston Climate Group (westoncli...@hotmail.com)
Subject: Gas price spikes

 

To support the argument of gas price stability in the future, as presented on Thursday night in discussing gas, see below (keeping in mind that US companies using natural gas as feedstock do not want to see the gas exported as it increases their cost).

 

Ed Woll

 

GAS EXPORTS:

Dow exec warns of policy-driven price spikes for homeowners

Published: Friday, May 23, 2014

Dow Chemical executive Jim Fitterling stepped up his campaign against unrestricted natural gas exports this week in Louisiana, warning that changes to U.S. policy could raise prices for homeowners.

Fitterling, an executive vice president at the biggest chemical manufacturer in the United States, said freeing up natural gas exports could inflate consumers' energy bills and push Dow to move its multibillion-dollar operations to other countries.

"When you have to be the shock absorber, it's manufacturing and jobs that go away," Fitterling said of price swings. "The homeowners don't go away; they just pay more."

The United States normally allows natural gas exports only to countries with which it has free-trade agreements, but the Department of Energy has issued seven permits for companies to ship gas to non-FTA nations, such as Japan. The first approved export facilities are expected to come online before the end of the decade, including Houston-based Cheniere Energy Inc.'s liquefied natural gas export terminal in Cameron Parish, La.

Fitterling said he fears unlimited exports could jeopardize cheap gas prices at a time when power providers are increasingly relying on the fuel to replace coal.

"In the history of the oil and gas business, spikes lead to the boom-and-bust cycle which we're so familiar with down here," Fitterling said. "Our feeling is that we don't need to live through a boom-and-bust cycle. We can sustain a 20-year, 30-year development cycle if we balance our policies."

DOE has estimated that natural gas prices could increase by a maximum of $1.11 per thousand cubic feet over five years under a higher-gas export scenario (Jennifer Larino, New Orleans Times-Picayune, May 21). -- BS

 

 

Edward Woll
Attorney at Law

Sullivan & Worcester LLP
One Post Office Square  •  Boston, MA 02109

T  617 338 2859
F  617 338 2880
ew...@sandw.com
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