CLNG: High Home Heating Costs Signal Increased Need for LNG

October 25, 2007 // Published as a news service by IHS

The Winter Fuels Outlook predicts the average household using natural gas for heating can expect to pay 10% more than it did last winter. This reflects the combined effects of a 6% increase in price and a 3% increase in consumption, according to the report.

"Home heating costs will continue to rise unless we make more natural gas supplies available. LNG will help meet America's growing demand for this environmentally-friendly fuel.

"With 64 million American homeowners relying on natural gas to heat their homes, and with more and more electrical power plants switching to clean burning natural gas to improve air quality, we need to clear the way to building more LNG import terminals in order to meet projected demand, which will help avoid or minimize price shocks," said Bill Cooper, executive director of CLNG.

According to CLNG, federal restrictions on natural gas exploration in the U.S. have limited access to domestic supplies. In addition, Canadian supplies are declining as Canada uses more of its own natural gas to achieve lower emissions from its electric power plants. As a result, the DOE predicts the gap between natural gas production and consumption will reach 21% by 2030.

Although domestic and Canadian supplies are limited, vast supplies of natural gas exist overseas, said CLNG. Importing it in the form of LNG will expand supply options in the U.S., which will help moderate prices and deliver relief to both household and industrial users.

"Here we are facing another winter season and projecting high prices and we are hoping the weather will bail us out. There is a cost for doing nothing. If we have a colder than expected winter, home heating costs will rise even higher and Americans on fixed incomes will feel the pinch. Relying on the weather is an unacceptable risk," said Cooper.

Source: Center for Liquefied Natural Gas (CLNG).