NPC North American Natural Gas Resource study 

The National Petroleum Council released its much-anticipated assessment of North America’s natural gas resource and how that resource can contribute to a lower carbon energy portfolio.  The 18-month study was conducted at the request of Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and involved over 400 participants from across the natural gas industry, the NGO community, state regulatory agencies and all natural gas consumer segments.   

The study provides a number of recommendations AGA commends, most notably that federal policymakers develop and adopt a consistent methodology for assessing full-fuel-cycle energy use and emissions, and that this methodology should inform regulatory decisions and energy-related policies (see p. 37 of the Executive Summary).   

The study also provides a number of other recommendations that AGA commends, including support for:

• Ensuring access to North American natural gas resources;
• Enacting policies and adopting practices that ensure prudent development of the resource;
• Promoting combined heat and power applications; 
• Encouraging private-public partnerships to maximize the greenhouse gas benefits of natural gas; 
• Enacting regulatory policies that align financial incentives for utilities and their customers to use energy more efficiently; and
• Making continued investments in research and development to maintain America’s technology leadership position in energy innovation.

For more information, please see:

• High-level summary of the report’s findings prepared by AGA staff
• AGA's press release urging policy makers to endorse the recommendations. 
• The executive summary, the full report, and the presentation to Secretary Chu at the NPC website.