AGA Statement on the Impact of the War in Ukraine on Natural Gas Markets
Washington, D.C. – Statement from American Gas Association (AGA) President and CEO Karen Harbert on the impact of the war in Ukraine on natural gas markets:
“With the unfolding chaos abroad and disruption to Europe’s energy markets, natural gas prices for America’s homeowners and business are expected to remain stable. America’s abundant natural gas supply and vast delivery system insulates us from instability across the ocean and unstable leaders with reckless political agendas. But we cannot ignore the fact that there are areas of the country that have refused to build the necessary infrastructure to bring natural gas to customers that need it, resulting in reliance on shipments of liquified natural gas from abroad, the high prices and instability that go along with that. Here at home, we see gasoline prices jumping, continued inflation looming and cold weather bearing down, but our domestic supply of natural gas is keeping Americans warm and bills affordable.
“We are seeing, in real time, the disastrous fallout from not investing in natural gas. Natural gas customers in Europe are paying the equivalent of $40 per MMbtu because they turned their backs on natural gas and the delivery infrastructure. We should not follow their example.”
On Background:
- The United States has 3,368 trillion cubic feet of natural gas technically recoverable resources.
- Natural gas prices in the U.S. are near $4.50 today per million btu, well below the prices in Europe which are close to $40 per MMbtu today and rose nearly 51% from yesterday.
- Prices in Europe are the result of a combination of factors, short-sighted policy, decreased local production, high demand due to cold temperatures and relatively low storage.
- Europe has been shutting down its gas production, but growth in renewables has not kept pace to take its place.