Future Role Of Natural Gas And Shale Revolution Dominate At P&GJ’s 2010 Pipeline Opportunities Conference

Pipeline & Gas Journal, in partnership with the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA), presented its sixth annual Pipeline Opportunities Conference on March 31 in Houston. Jeff Share, conference founder and organizer, said the single-day event drew more than 500 attendees at the George R. Brown Convention Center for the third consecutive year, attesting to the intense interest in the pipeline industry.

Conference topics included an Alaskan Natural Gas Pipeline Update, Pipeline Prospects for 2010 and Beyond, the Shale Gas Revolution and Expanding Pipeline Infrastructure to tap into new supply sources. There was also an intensive look at the role of natural gas for the generation of electricity, and how its many applications can serve to decrease harmful pollution levels from all sectors, particularly when used together with or replacing other fossil fuels.

“Sometimes it seems like we’re repeating ourselves, but this year leaves no doubt that there is unprecedented interest in natural gas, especially in North America,” Share said.

“The Alaskan natural gas pipeline no longer seems like a pipe dream, and the ability to develop what we used to consider unconventional natural gas resources has been a great shot in the arm not just for the entire industry, but for the country as well. Now it’s up to the industry to prove that it can produce, process and move that natural gas safely and securely with protecting the environment as its core value,” he said.
During a lively Natural Gas Executives Roundtable that kicked off the event, Mike Fulwood, principal of Nexant’s Global Gas practice, said natural gas is the driver over the next few years. “If the economic recovery is slow and steady, gas demand and prices will remain weak. A faster recovery may provide some support to prices.”

Fulwood shared a scenario on how the carbon pact that may be imposed later this year could be met. “You could meet that pact guideline, or come very close to it, if you displace 40% of the existing coal generation with natural gas and renewables,” he explained. “This is not something that would require a ton of new gas-fired power plants, it is quite possible that a lot of this could come about with existing gas assets.”
The Nexant executive also touched on the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act (or NAT GAS Act), noting that it has big implications for the natural gas industry. The Act promotes the purchase and use of NGVs with an emphasis on heavy-duty and fleet vehicles.
“This has very positive benefits because it has the potential to displace half of our oil imports into the U.S.,” he said.

J. Mark Robinson, principal of JMR Energy Infra and a well-known official with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission until his retirement last year, said he sees transportation offering the greatest potential. He explained that 120 cubic feet of natural gas equals one gallon of gasoline, adding that natural gas could cut into the use of gasoline and in doing so, reduce oil consumption and the amount of pollutants going into the atmosphere.

By 2030, he said, about 10 Tcf could be devoted to transportation fuel.