Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire

Major Energy and Environmental News and Commentary affecting the Nuclear Industry.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

LNG Won't Save Europe


Apr 23, 2014 02:00 am | Jay Zawatsky
It is now common knowledge that horizontal directional drilling and “fracking” in the domestic oil and natural gas production industry have reversed a generation of production declines in the United States. But unlike Obama Administration accounting, which pretends it can save the same dollar it is spending twice, we cannot spend (i.e., combust) the same natural gas molecules twice. More specifically, the United States cannot both (a) become more energy independent and (b) save Europe from the Russian energy bear. Accordingly, substantial liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to Europe are simply a politician’s pipe dream—one that will never even have an opportunity to go up in smoke.
Why is that? In 2013, all European Union states plus Switzerland, Norway, Turkey and the Balkan states consumed 18.7 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), 30 percent, or 5.7 Tcf, of this gas was supplied by Russia. Can the United States supply this amount of gas to greater Europe?
Mr. Putin has access to the same energy facts as Mr. Obama. They both know that there is no chance that the United States can reliably supply 5.7 Tcf to Europe. Here is why:
No Pipeline
read morehttp://nationalinterest.org/commentary/lng-wont-save-europe-10323

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