Posted on 04/01/2014 10:39:49 AM PDT by thackney
The boom in American natural-gas production during the past several years, and the consequent crash of domestic natural-gas prices, has caused many to call for the liberation of U.S. natural-gas exports.
The ongoing Russian invasion of the Crimea and threat to the rest of Ukraine has added still greater urgency to these calls, as the need take action to weaken Russian President Vladimir Putin’s natural-gas stranglehold over Europe has become vital.
Despite these economic and national security imperatives, there are still those who maintain that allowing American natural-gas producers to export their product would damage the national interest. According to them, enabling natural-gas exports would harm Americans, by causing their fuel prices to rise.
Let us consider the logic of this argument. If stopping exports of natural gas really helps Americans by keeping their gas prices down, why not extend the principle and ban all exports? Then, according to such wisdom, everything would become cheaper.
If we stopped American farmers from exporting a large part of their products, and instead forced them to dump them on the domestic market for whatever they could get, the commodity price of corn and wheat would crash. Not only that, if we stopped industrialists from exporting their products, all sorts of manufactured goods would become available for fire-sale prices.
Imagine the benefits: bread at 10 cents of loaf, new automobiles for less than $3,000, Boeing jets at 80 percent off list price. The savings would be endless. Such a plan would certainly be feasible. The United States has the largest and best Navy in the world. Using just a small portion of it, we could blockade all American ports, preventing exports...
...The answers to these questions make evident the absurdity of the export-blockers’ position. Like the makers of crops, airplanes and books, producers of....
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Zubrin is a Mars Advocate.
his main goal in life is the colonization of Mars.....
he seems to have a grasp of energy resources too.
Thanks thackney.
Asia will outbid Europe for LNG supplies from the US. Everyone knows that.
Do you think Europe is going to turn off the heat and power?
“Do you think Europe is going to turn off the heat and power?”
Why would I think that?
Europe is and will continue to buy LNG.
“Europe is and will continue to buy LNG.”
Depends. The typical European household is stretched to the breaking point financially.
Asian spot LNG prices are running around US$18 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), while European LNG cargoes go for around US$10 per mmBtu.
Europeans can’t match that price without families being swamped by energy costs that they can’t afford. The tariff choices offered to households are more limited. The consensus is that UK consumers will pay, on average, about £140 more this season. The typical household energy cost in the UK is £1,350 annually.
If 10% of UK households are priced out of the energy market due to higher costs, I believe that the UK elitists will have a major revolt on their hands.
We shall see, no?
That average price includes long term contacts.
Would you care to make a bet against Europe buying LNG next mont, in 6 months, or a year from now?
That price differential has existed for some time now.
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