The US Department of Energys office of Fossil Energy (DOE/FE)
recently completeda study on the impact of exporting LNG on the US
energy market. There are manysupporters, as well as opponents, on
the issue of exporting natural gas (NG) from the
US. Using a 20-Bcf export volume, the study published several
findings: 1) IncreasedLNG exports will raise domestic NG prices by
2% to 5%. 2) US NG markets are balancedin response to higher LNG
exports through higher production rates. Most of the newNG demand
will be satisfied by shale gas production. 3) End-user costs for NG
andelectricity will increase modestly with added LNG exports.
Residential, commercial andindustrial sectors should expect an
increase of 1% to 8% in NG costs. 4) Added LNGexports will boost
economic growth and domestic consumption of goods and servicesthat
will outweigh higher energy costs due to LNG exports.
