Washington (Platts)--12Sep2012/231 pm EDT/1831 GMT
A push to export US liquefied natural gas will impair growing consumer demand, increase domestic gas prices and undermine energy independence efforts, the head of an industry lobbying group said Wednesday. In a speech at the LDC Midcontinent Gas Forum in Chicago, Bert Kalisch, president and CEO of the American Public Gas Association, said LNG exports would cause US gas price to climb and curb growing demand in the industrial and electric generation sectors. Kalisch, who pointed to US Energy Information Administration estimates that LNG exports could cause prices to climb as much as 54%, said a price jump could stymie demand from ongoing coal-to-gas switching. Coal-fired plant retirements may boost gas demand by 12-15 Bcf/day over the next five years, but this jump is unlikely if prices rise dramatically, he said. Kalisch said that preventing LNG exports would help balance US trade and reduce domestic dependence on foreign oil. "We believe this is an energy security issue," Kalisch said. "America is now in a unique position to make a significant stride towards energy independence. Let's not fumble this opportunity away." Kalisch said there were too many unknowns to export US produced gas, such as the impact of potential hydraulic fracturing regulations on production and reductions in overall supply estimates. In his speech, Kalisch pushed natural gas as a major jobs creator and the energy source of the 21st century, as coal had been in the 19th century and oil in the 20th. "We in the natural gas industry now sit at the top of the hill," he said. Kalisch said the industry needed to push for the expansion of natural gas vehicles, which currently make up a "negligible" portion of America's 67 Bcf/d gas demand. He also called for more production of renewable natural gas and methane hydrates, ice-lattice structures containing frozen natural gas which he said could supply as much as 1,000 years gas at current consumption rates.--Brian Scheid, brian_scheid@platts.com --Edited by Alisdair Bowles, alisdair_bowles@platts.com