Times of Conflict or War Remind Us of the Importance of U.S. Natural Gas

RealClear Energy ^ | 18 Mar, 2026 | Gary Abernathy

[MtnClimber]

There is little good to be said about war, even when the fight is one of good vs. evil. Lives lost, property, cities and infrastructures destroyed, and billions of dollars spent are among the tragic outcomes of war. Even when freedom and democracy ultimately triumph over tyranny and oppression, the cost of war is high for everyone involved.

For Americans, one positive aspect of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran is the strong position in which Americans find themselves in regard to our energy independence. While gas pump prices are predictably seeing some spikes, the strong U.S. position in regard to natural gas should keep other energy prices relatively stable for most Americans.

As described in this space recently, despite the U.S. being technically energy independent – a net exporter – much of the oil produced by the U.S. is light oil produced from shale fracking. Most U.S. refineries are built to process heavier oil, much of which is imported. When a disruption in transportation occurs – such as imperiling the Straight of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf – oil prices will climb here, hopefully for only the short term.

But natural gas is a different story, at least for Americans. As the war with Iran escalated, the value of our natural gas became evident, as reflected by investors.

“U.S. natural gas futures climbed about 3% on Thursday on a bigger-than-expected storage withdrawal, forecasts for higher demand this week than previously expected, and soaring global energy prices,” Reuters reported only a few days after the war began.

“Even though the shutdown ‌of liquefied natural gas (LNG) export production in Qatar removed about 20% of global LNG supplies, prices in the U.S. have not reacted much because the country was already exporting all the LNG

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TOPICS: Business/Economy; Society
KEYWORDS: energy; lng; methane

[MtnClimber]

And we have idiots imposing ESG rules that harm coal, oil and natural gas companies. They want us to be more like Europe.

[curious7]

They’re not idiots. They are agents of our foreign and domestic enemies that hope to destroy the Republic.