hotair.com By JAZZ SHAW
Texas has a natural gas problem. That may come as a surprise since we’re talking about one of the most plentiful energy-producing regions in the country, if not the world. But the problem in Texas isn’t that they’re running out of natural gas. They’ve got enough of that to last well into the next century. What they don’t have is enough volume in the available pipelines to get all of that gas to where it needs to be, particularly the supplies coming from the western Permian Basin. In fact, the production of natural gas has been so plentiful that they can barely sell it off at a profit. The Institute for Energy Research released a new report this week suggesting that if pipeline capacity isn’t improved with more pipelines being approved across a wider region, they will not be able to meet the anticipated levels of demand this winter.
Just as the world needs energy desperately, and particularly energy in the form of natural gas, takeaway capacity has been proven to be insufficient in the Permian basin of Texas. Natural gas production in the Permian basin overwhelmingly uses pipeline networks, the safest and most efficient means of transport. Recently, natural gas in the area of the Permian known as Waha traded for just 20 cents to 70 cents per million British thermal units—a price much lower than the U.S. benchmark futures contract of around $5 per million BTUs and European prices of around $28 per million BTUs…
