Sunset clause: US energy companies say more gas drilling is needed to boost supplies of the cleaner-burning fuel needed to fight climate change
‘More gas drilling needed in climate fight’
The US will need to allow more natural gas drilling as power plants switch from burning coal in a bid to slow global warming, an industry trade group said today.
To meet future gas demand and keep energy prices from shooting higher, energy companies will need access to more federal onshore lands and offshore tracts to find the needed supplies, said Chris Conway, chairman of the Natural Gas Supply Association.
"I do think natural gas is going to be a big player going forward, especially as we seek (cuts in) greenhouse gas emissions," Conway told reporters at a briefing on the NGSA's new winter forecast for gas, Reuters reported.
"In the case of legislating greenhouse gas reductions, we ought to be opening access for natural gas," he said.
Conway's call comes as the the US hosts a two-day conference of the world's major greenhouse gas emitters to discuss the need to reduce emissions, like those spewed by power plants, which have caused the Earth's temperatures to rise.
If the US eventually adopts a plan to cut emissions - either through legislation or as part of a new global agreement - many experts say more power plants will likely be fueled by natural gas instead of coal.
Energy companies have urged Congress for years to allow both oil and gas drilling in closed federal waters off Florida, along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and in onshore areas in the Rocky Mountain region.
An estimated 79 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas is held in US waters where drilling is banned, and 69 trillion cubic feet of gas is off-limits in the Rocky Mountain region, according to the National Petroleum Council, a government advisory panel.
Still prohibiting gas exploration in these areas as the United States decides to slash greenhouse gas emissions will put upward pressure on prices, said Conway, who is also marketing chief US supermajor ConocoPhillips.
"I think we're in a tight market now and putting further pressure on natural gas without supporting access would be a mistake," he said. "We ought to be able to bring plenty of natural gas to this marketplace."