Natural Gas Futures Plummet
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Can natural-gas prices get any lower? Yes. The Wall Street Journal reports that futures are plummeting after meteorologists predicted mild January weather for the Northest.
Read it:
“Natural-gas futures settled at $3.233 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 11.8 cents, or 3.5%. The commodity, which also declined Monday, has lost 6.8% of its value in the last two sessions.”
The drop in natural-gas prices can be attributed to two factors: record-high natural-gas storage levels and fresh predictions of warmer-than-usual weather in January. In other words, there’s more supply than demand.
This is good news for consumers, but natural-gas producers will be feeling the pinch.
» Via: The Wall Street Journal › Natural-Gas Futures Continue to Fall
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Shale FAQ
What is fracking?
Fracking is a slang term for hydraulic fracturing. Fracturing is a process by which highly pressurized fluid is pumped thousands of feet into the ground to fracture rock formations. The goal is to release the natural gas that’s locked inside the rock.
Is it safe?
What most concerns people about fracturing is ground water contamination. The worry is that fractures underground, caused by the process, will extending upwards and into aquifers, releasing gas and chemicals into the ground water supply. There’s been no confirmed reports of such a thing happening. Though surface spills and drill site blowouts can lead to localized environmental concerns.
Will my water catch on fire?
Flammable water is caused by the release of methane gas into a drinking water supply. Methane gas occurs naturally and can be released by any kind of drilling, including water wells. In Pennsylvania officials fined Chesapeake Energy $1 million for contaminating ground water with methane. It was determined that the company had not properly cemented it’s boreholes and gas migrated up the well, between rock and into aquifers.