Henry Hub natural gas price shifts to global benchmark

US gas players face crossroads as North American natural gas is moving away from being a regional price point to become a global benchmark

North American natural gas is at an inflection point and US policy makers face tough choices as Henry Hub natural gas futures shift from being a regional price point to a global benchmark.  For the US, a key issue is whether to export the gas or direct it to the country's battered manufacturing sector, which sees lower energy costs as a key ingredient for economic recovery. If this approach smacks of isolationism, it's because the North American natural gas market has been - and still is - isolated from the rest of the world. For more than 50 years, it has been a closed loop of supply and demand; drilling levels and supply fluctuated according to cyclic, seasonal rhythms. Henry Hub price sig