Washington (Platts)--11Mar2011/336 pm EST/2036 GMT
The powerful earthquake that rocked Japan Friday will have little effect on US natural gas prices, analysts at Jefferies & Company said. "In 2007 Japanese liquefied natural gas imports rose 0.5 to 1 Bcf/d due to nuclear plant outages following an earthquake," Bijou Perincheril wrote in a note to clients. "Back in 2007, the US was very dependent on LNG, importing around 3 Bcf/d. Currently, we bring in less than 1 Bcf/d." Gas from new shale plays has increased production in the lower 48 states by 7 Bcf/d during the same time frame, Perincheril said, leaving a situation where a complete halt to LNG imports would have no effect on US domestic gas prices. --Bill Holland, bill_holland@platts.comSimilar stories appear in Gas Daily. See more information at http://bit.ly/GasDaily