There continues to be much discussion about natural gas for a variety of reasons, not just the large reserves made possible because of Shale gas deposit development, but also because the associated economic repercussions to industry and manufacturing around the world.
The good news is that low gas prices make manufacturing and the feedstock for chemical facilities more competitive which devolves to needing the associated control systems to operate the processes safely and reliably. Unfortunately, it also means that pure play gas producers here in Canada who have to pay for shipping the gas to market are hurting and refocusing their efforts on gas plays with high liquids (propane and heavier) content. However ALL of us are seeing lower heating bills as a result.
Another good news story is on the environmental front because natural gas is one of the cleaner hydrocarbons and is displacing coal as an electricity generation fuel source. Regardless the environmentalists see perceived negative environmental aspects associated with “fraccing.” Fracturing technology has been used for decades, albeit at lower pressures because sandstone is more friable than shale however proper controls are certainly easier to implement with something better understood like this technology.
What made me think of the above was an interesting infographic from Oil & Gas IQ http://www.oilandgasiq.com/gas-oil-production-and-operations/articles/infographic-global-natural-gas-reserves-production/&shownewswindow=1&mac=OGIQ_FOF&utm_source=OilGasIQ&utm_medium=Eloqua&utm_campaign=130412OG_FOF_&utm_content=dlc&utm_term=dlc based on data provided by BP in their Annual Energy review http://www.bp.com/sectionbodycopy.do?categoryId=7500&contentId=7068481
On a personal note, I look forward to seeing many of you at the ISA Calgary Conference http://isacalgary.com/sessions-thursday/ next week where I will be making a keynote presentation at 14:00 April 18. Hope to see several of you there.
