US Prepares to Adopt Natural Gas as the Fuel of the Future

Thursday 28 June 2012, Amsterdam

A growing dependence on natural gas will see the US introduce 27 new storage sites by the end of 2016, states the new Underground Gas Storage in North America - Market Analysis, Competitive Landscape and Forecasts to 2016 report.

The report explains that as the US plans to generate up to 80% of its electricity through gas-fired plants by 2035, the working capacity of its underground storage network will increase from 4,650,122MMcf in 2011 to 4,970,022MMcf by 2016.

According to the 2011 figures in this report, the US already has the largest number of active underground gas storage sites in the world, with 405.
US production of natural gas has increased significantly over recent years due to the exploitation of shale plays, even leading to overproduction in 2011 and a resulting price drop.

US production of natural gas has increased significantly over recent years due to the exploitation of shale plays, even leading to overproduction in 2011 and a resulting price drop.

The boost in production has prompted plans in the US to hugely improve natural gas pipeline infrastructure, which will in turn create demand for storage sites necessary in maintaining the reliability of the pipelines.

As natural gas cannot be utilized immediately upon production it must be stored underground for a period of time. The bulk of this is stored in depleted oil and gas field type sites (84.8% in 2011), but this is set to change as alternative salt cavern type sites become more prevalent due to the faster rate at which gas can be withdrawn.

This proliferation of natural gas storage sites during the period 2011-2016 will favour the salt cavern varieties, which will take a share of 70.4% of the total planned gas storage sites in North America during this period. These more efficient locations will make up 19 of the 27 new storage sites expected by 2016.

This report analyzes the underground gas storage industry in the North American region. The report provides information about North America’s underground gas
storage market, with forecasts until 2016, and gives information on the key gas storage sites and companies in the region. The report also provides details of the key drivers and issues in the gas storage industry.

The report is compiled using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research and in-house analysis by a team of industry experts.