Victims of their own success
Shale-gas drillers are struggling to cope with the cheap prices brought by their onslaught of supply
Production continues to outstrip demand, despite a jump in the use of gas in the power sector at the expense of coal. Prices remain low, with little sign of recovery. The US natural gas sector is struggling to maintain momentum. In the short term, hot weather and a surge in power demand for air conditioning could be producers’ best hope. But, in the longer term, they will be looking to a spate of new processing facilities based on cheap gas feedstock, scheduled to come on stream in the next couple of years, and the advent of US LNG exports to provide support for the market. Fast growth in the US economy would help too. While US gas production continued to grow modestly over the past year, th
Also in this section
14 April 2026
The GECF has warned it may revise its projections for demand this year downwards in light of conflict in the Middle East, although it maintains its forecasts for 2027 and onwards
13 April 2026
Petroleum Economist analysis highlights sharp shift from crude oversupply to market deficit, with Iraq and Kuwait badly affected and key producers Saudi Arabia and the UAE also seeing output sharply lower
13 April 2026
Turkmenistan is moving ahead with a modest expansion of the giant Galkynysh field to sustain gas deliveries abroad, but persistent delays to other key pipeline projects and geopolitical risks continue to constrain its export ambitions
13 April 2026
Expensive electricity has forced out swathes of energy-intensive industry and now threatens the country’s ability to attract future investment in datacentres and the digital economy
