Quotes Regarding the Current Natural Gas Situation

Natural Gas Council Climate Change Analysis
March 11, 2008
Washington, DC - Experts from the natural gas industry are warning that the use of natural gas could increase dramatically under climate change legislation being considered on Capitol Hill. A summary of their findings is being sent to Congress today.

Facing the Hard Truths About Energy
July 18, 2007
In July of 2007, the National Petroleum Council in response to a request from Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman, published a report titled Facing the Hard Truths About Energy, examined the future of energy security to the year 2030. The National Petroleum Council (NPC), is a federally chartered and privately funded advisory committee, established in 1946. The NPC provides the perspectives of the oil and natural gas industries in advising, informing, and making recommendations to the Secretary of Energy with respect to any matter relating to oil and natural gas.

Testimony of Daniel Yergin, Chairman, Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) before the Committee on Foreign Affairs, US House of Representatives - "The Fundamentals of Energy Security"
March 22, 2007
CERA Chairman Daniel Yergin testified before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on March 22 at a hearing to discuss the past and current global energy security system.

EPCA Phase II Report
December 16, 2006
This report, titled Scientific Inventory of Onshore Federal Lands' Oil and Gas Resources and the Extent and Nature of Restrictions or Impediments to Their Development — Phase II Cumulative Inventory, supersedes Phase I of the inventory.

Testimony of Terry Boss, Senior Vice President, Environment, Safety and Operations, Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) before the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, United States Senate – November 16, 2006 (PDF)
Terry Boss, INGAA Senior Vice President, testified in support of the reauthorization of the Pipeline Safety Act which expired September 30 2006. "The integrity management program mandated by the PSIA (Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002) is performing very well,” he said.

Statement of Daniel Yergin, Chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, before the Committee on Energy and Commerce, U.S. House of Representatives - May 4, 2006 (PDF)
Prize-winning author and oil consultant Daniel Yergin testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on May 4 at a hearing to discuss concerns around the rising price of oil. "If there is a single message," Yergin said, "it is that we cannot begin to understand what is happening at the gasoline pump unless we see it in the global context-involving both crude supply and refining worldwide."

American Enterprise Institute (AEI), ”Energy Security, National Security, and Natural Gas”
By Gary J. Schmitt
April 13, 2006
For the past four decades, discussions of energy security and the security implications of energy supplies have focused on oil. But, increasingly, this focus will appear to be too narrow. If current trends continue, the United States will face a similar set of problems with natural gas: growing demand, costly supplies, and governments who will use their control over gas reserves to enhance their geopolitical position in ways likely to complicate U.S. foreign policy.

Foreign Affairs, “Ensuring Energy Security”
March/April 2006
The institutions and policies that were set up after the 1973 Arab oil embargo can no longer meet the needs of energy consumers or producers. The definition of energy security needs to be expanded to cope with the challenges of a globalized world.

Critical Issues in the Natural Gas Market (PDF)
February 13, 2006
Commissioner Nora Brownell's testimony on the natural gas market before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Recent Natural Gas Prices (PDF)
February 13, 2006
OMOI Director Susan Court's testimony on the natural gas market before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

What is the Future of Natural Gas? ( PDF)
A Congressional report concludes that additional exploration and production of natural gas is needed to moderate sharp price increases and continued job loss.

The Federal Reserve Board, "Energy," Alan Greenspan Speech
October 17, 2005
"Even before the devastating hurricanes of August and September 2005, world oil markets had been subject to a degree of strain not experienced for a generation. Increased demand and lagging additions to productive capacity had eliminated a significant amount of the slack in world oil markets that had been essential in containing crude oil and product prices between 1985 and 2000."

"Natural Gas: Balancing Supply, Demand and the Environment" ( PDF)
May 24, 2005
Summary of forum sponsored by the American Gas Foundation, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and the National Environmental Trust.

"Natural Gas Outlook to 2020" Study by American Gas Foundation [more...]

API's policy suggestions submitted to the Natural Gas Conference, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, chaired by Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) ( PDF)
January 2005
America's natural gas policy has encouraged the use of this clean-burning fuel while discouraging the development of new supplies. The result is the current tight supply/ demand balance and the prospect of continual future tightening if action is not taken. Natural gas markets have distributed supplies efficiently, but prices have risen and markets have become more volatile due to the tight supply/demand balance.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place," Amy Zuckerman, Leadership for Manufacturers Magazine, (National Association of Manufacturers) ( PDF)
Winter 2004
With fluctuating natural gas prices wreaking havoc for American industry, experts hope to find political solutions that can gain national consensus.

Senate Joint Economic Committee Hearing on "The Long Run Economics of Natural Gas,", Testimony of Chairman Robert Bennett (R-UT)
October 7, 2004
"It is important that we address the problem of high natural gas prices as soon as possible. The high prices act like a brake on the American economy, impacting every business and household in America. ... We know the proximate causes for the run up in the cost of natural gas. A few years after prices were deregulated in the 1980s the Congress passed laws that in effect encouraged its use to produce electricity, sharply increasing demand. At the same time, the production from extant wells began to decline and environmental restrictions made the exploration and drilling of new wells more difficult. It doesn't take an economist to see that policies that increase demand and decrease supply will sharply increase prices."

Senate Joint Economic Committee Hearing, Statement of Daniel Yergen ( PDF)
October 7, 2004
"The higher and volatile gas prices are not a failure of markets. Rather they are the result of a disappointing geological experience over the last several years, compounded by issues involving access to resources. With upward pressure from demand, prices are performing their essential function-signaling the change in conditions to both producers and consumers."

Senate Joint Economic Committee Hearing on "The Pressures on Natural Gas Prices," Testimony of Chairman Robert Bennett (R-UT) ( PDF)
October 6, 2004
The price of natural gas has increased sharply in recent years after an extended period of relative stability. Higher prices are due to a number of factors, such as the implementation of policies that have encouraged consumption, the lack of infrastructure necessary to bring more natural gas to the market, the declining productivity of existing wells, and the inability to access natural gas field on federal lands.