Production improvement – Natural Gas production increased by 2.3% between 2005 and 2006. This growth is due in part to the 2005 Hurricane Katrina and Rita disasters. The increase in drilling led to an increase in production along the coast. A record number of natural gas wells were drilled in 2006 by the industry. Another record was set in 2007, with drilling activities continuing in 2007. About 5.8% more exploration and development wells were produced in 2007 than 2006. Production is expected rise by around 1.4 percent in 2007 and 1.3% in 2008. It is expected that it will expand in 2008 due to the new deep-water installations in Gulf of Mexico. These were built in 2007, and have been producing since 2007. Since 2000, the number and quality of natural gas wells in countries has increased steadily. The record of nearly 449000 was reached in 2006.
Increased net imports – Gross imports for 2007 are expected at 6.5 percent higher than 2006, but is expected decrease by 4.0 percentage. Expect net imports to rise by approximately 8.6 percent in 2007 and decrease by 1.4% in 2008. CNG will account for the majority of U.S. import growth. CNG was the main driver of U.S. import growth for the first eight months 2007. Pipeline imports increased 86 CSC over 2006. Liquefied natural gas imports increased 241 CSC. But, trade press reports indicate that monthly LNG imports may have declined.
Increased demand – Natural gas consumption dropped by 2.3 percentage points in 2006 in comparison to 2005. However, the industry is forecast to recover with a rise of 4.5 per cent in 2007, following a return to almost normal weather. Based on data for 2006’s first 8 months and 2007, the total consumption of natural gases increased by approximately 5.0%. This was largely due to increased residential consumption by 11.8%.
High Oil prices: Several large quantities of customers (mainly industrial customers and electricity customers) can switch between oil and natural gas depending on their prices. Because of this relationship between fuel markets and oil prices, rising oil prices result in lower prices for natural gasoline. However, prices go up due to increased competition for natural gaz. Prices rise as natural gas demand increases. The October record-breaking price of crude oil was $ 93 a barrel. Oil prices increased during most of the year because of geopolitical uncertainties and uncertainty in the financial markets. The tight global oil market conditions are expected to continue throughout 2008.
Canada Natural Gas reserves based on underground storage records for November 2, natural gasoline in storage reached an all-time high CSC3545 This is 8.9% higher than average for 2005-2006, which was 3254. Record store levels are a result of a positive economy. The remaining 2007 will see natural gas reserves remain at an above-average level, unless weather conditions change to the normal range.
