Booming production pushes natural gas price down

On February 2, 2012 — No comments

The price of natural gas dropped back to near a 10-year low Wednesday after Exxon Mobil and other energy companies declined to cut production.

Exxon, America’s biggest natural gas producer, has led a push by major industry players into U.S. gas drilling over the past few years that has boosted production to the highest levels ever. Supplies in storage are well above average, and some experts estimate the nation has enough natural gas to meet its needs for a century.

Investors hoped that Exxon would follow smaller competitors like Chesapeake Energy and shut down some natural gas rigs. But when it released its quarterly and annual earnings results Tuesday, Exxon said it hasn’t pulled back.

“We remain bullish on the future of natural gas as an energy source,” Exxon investor relations chief David Rosenthal said.

The company has started to shift its focus to developing more oil and other liquid hydrocarbons in the U.S., but “we have not curtailed any gas production,” Rosenthal said.

For the rest of the story visit, Booming production pushes natural gas price down