what percentage?

[bikerfish]

just wondering if anyone here has a clue on what percentage of our marcellus gas is currently being exported out of the country? I tried looking it up but couldn't find any good info. thought someone here might have at least a good guess.
thank you

 

[Missy]

Looking for a percentage. Found this: "He said that Dominion will work with Norway's Statoil
(STL.OL), which has import capacity at Cove Point (MD) and
production acreage in Marcellus, to build a connection between
Marcellus and the proposed export plant.

"If you think about Cove Point, where it sits there in the
Mid-Atlantic, a couple hundred miles from the Marcellus region,
it has got all the facilities it needs other than the
liquefaction itself," Farrell said.

The spokesman said on Tuesday that Dominion was in
discussions with natural gas producers at Marcellus.

Dominion has not said how the project would be financed or
how much it would cost.

US OVERSUPPLY

Dominion's move is part of a wider change in the U.S. gas
market where increased supply outstrips demand, thanks to huge
rises in shale gas production.

Most U.S. LNG import terminals built on the expectation
that the U.S. would be a major LNG importer now sit largely
idle as shippers send their gas to higher-paying markets in
Asia, Europe and South America." -

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/01/lng-dominion-export-idUSN0122810220110201

AND

"Norwegian company Statoil is in a joint venture with Chesapeake Energy to produce Marcellus Formation shale gas in the eastern US, and has indicated interest in bringing knowledge gained in the US to European shale gas prospects. Russian giant Gazprom announced in October 2009 that it may buy a US shale-gas producing company to gain expertise which it could then apply to Russian shale gas prospects." -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shale_gas

Nothing on percentages for exporting but I do know that some of the companies hydrofracking the Marcellus are foreign companies. If I find an export percentage, I'll definitely let you know!
Missy

 

[JackM]

US is the land of opportunity in our global economy, but just not for only her own citizens. We are just another market for the world's wealthiest. I expect that MS will grow PA's economy through exports outside PA and outside the US, but I'm not so sure all or even most of the money earned from our reserves will be kept here. Pass the tax, protect the environment, please.

 

[bikerfish]

yeah, I'm curious about the numbers. we're constantly hearing about our energy needs, dependance from foriegn oil, blah blah blah.
then I see dave sewaks talk last week and he mentions there are rather large pipelines that run across the northern and southern protions of our state. so I'm thinking most of this gas isn't even being used in our domestic market. it's being exported overseas.
please correct me if I'm wrong, out of state companies taking PA resource, getting big break by governor, then selling resource overseas
I'm just trying to gather as many facts as I can here. that's why I'm looking for a percentage

then there are those that confuse marcellus drilling with gas prices at the pumps! people need to be educated!

 

[pcray1231]

http://fossil.energy.gov/programs/gasregulation/publications/3rd10ng.pdf

These are 2010 totals:

Imports:

Total: 2880.5 bcf
2518 bcf from Canada via pipeline
25.2 bcf from Mexico via pipeline
Remaining 336.6 bcf via ship from various countries.

Exports:

Total: 773 bcf
510 bcf to Canada via pipeline
240 bcf to Mexico via pipeline
23 bcf to various countries via ship, the largest of which is Japan.

Now, they don't break down those imports and exports by the type of well. Most of these wells dump the gas into pipelines, which are the same pipelines that other types of wells are dumping into, so it makes it tough to break down that way.

Looking to turn this into a %, I found a source that said in 2007, the total gas production in the U.S. was 19.3 Tcf. While there's error here because the exports are 2010 numbers and the production is 2007 numbers, as a country we export about 4% of the gas we produce, and imports are about 15% if compared to the amount we produce domestically. So still a trade differential, but not nearly as bad as oil.

This is largely due to Canada, by far our biggest supplier, and also our biggest customer. I'm pretty sure our interior areas don't export much, and don't import much. It's the border regions where it all takes place, because very little is shipped overseas. Again, a different world than oil, I think our relations with Canada are rather stable.

Non-conventional gas plays, which includes but is by no means limited to Marcellus, contributed 42% of our nation's gas in 2007, and that's projected to increase to 64% in 2020. I have no idea if the % of the exports fits this or not, but I suspect it'd be strongly influenced by geography. Again, the sources closest to the Canadian border are going to contribute a higher % to exports than sources in the interior.

 

[bikerfish]

thanks pcray, I knew you would find some info regarding this.
thank you Missy as well, very interesting articles.

 

[reds]

I would think that the bigger question is how much will be exported in the future? Right now so little of the wells being drilled are able to send the gas to market at the rates they are capable of producing, if they are able to get it to a market at all. The pipelines are simply not in place to get the gas anywhere.

Additionally, the Marcellus play is really very new, the real production is just ramping up, as it increases more will be sent elsewhere.

A note on the Dominion piece, they operate two of the largest storage fields in the east in Clinton and Potter counties putting them in an excellent position to receive the gas from north cetral Pa and send it on to Cove Point.

 

[Gone4Day]

Pat has it about right. In 2005 the US imported almost 20% of its natural gas. By 2010 that had decreased to just over 15%. PA is a bit trickier to assess since it keeps production data confidential for 5 years. In 2005, the last full year data is available, PA imported 76% of its natural gas. Its not unreasonable to assume PA production has doubled since but even with zero growth in energy demand and no substitution of gas for coal, PA would still have to import over 50%. In the unlikely event that PA ever becomes a net exporter of gas, it won't get very far. It will be consumed by other NE states that have little or no production. But the decrease demand in the NE will free up other supplies that could eventually lead to the US becoming a net exporter of gas. It would help our trade deficit, though.

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear reds,

Tell me more about the storage fields in Potter and Clinton counties? Are they tank farms where they are storing CNG, or have they found a way to effectively store it underground?

I remember back in 1996 when Avoca NY was the hotbed of natural gas activity in the US. People came from all over the country on spec to see if they could find a way to store natural gas underground in salt caverns.

Six months later deer and turkey walked across open fields amidst rusting pieces of scrap that weren't worth hauling back to Oklahoma or Wyoming once the bottom dropped out of gas.

That's the problem with natural gas. It's worth far more in the ground than above. It simply isn't used in it's primary capacity as a home heating fuel or a commercial oven or furnace fuel in most of the US. Consequently it lacks a viable storage and delivery system.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Tim Murphy

 

[reds]

Tim, these are underground storage wells. The storage facilities date back to the fifties. If you have fished kettle creek around Cross Fork the Greenlick storage facility lies to the east of that. Leidy the larger of the two is down around Tamarack. Leidy is where most companies want to get there gas because it opens them up to the most markets.

The gas there is primarily stored in the Oriskanny formation if I remember correctly, which is beneath the Marcellus. The Greenlick storage field had a well blow up a few years ago, it was unbelievable, after touring the site I considered going back to church because I think that the fire I witnessed there is what hell would be like. The initial fire was supposedly seen by a commercial aircraft flying over.

 

[osprey]

MAN , YOU GOT THAT RIGHT!!!!! JackM , "Pass the tax , Please" PLEASE!!!!

 

[TimMurphy]

osprey wrote:
MAN , YOU GOT THAT RIGHT!!!!! JackM , "Pass the tax , Please" PLEASE!!!!

Dear osprey,

We cannot have a tax, for if we did all the drillers and jobs and would pull up their stakes and suddenly disappear according to the gas company apologists?

My guess is that they would simply return to drilling in the states that they are actively drilling in today that have extraction taxes and no would would miss them either.

A boy can hope! ;-)

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[osprey]

When i saw an interview with a gal who was a spokesperson for the Natural Gas industry , she was saying that the companies had the tax built right into their budgets and that they were surprised at the situation in PA with no tax , she more or less said the companies were prepared to pay an extraction tax.