Shale Gas 'Overwhelming Blessing' Says Energy Expert
| March 14th, 2011
Dr. John Deutch, Institute Professor at MIT, told a standing room only crowd at WVU’s National Research Center for Coal and Energy that the amount of natural gas now being unlocked from the nation’s shale deposits was “the biggest surprise that has occurred in my 35 years in energy resource assessment.”
Deutch told the audience of students, faculty and public that only three years ago, government energy forecasts showed that, by 2030, the U.S. would import 25 percent of its natural gas needs, becoming dependent on the Middle East in a manner similar to that of U.S. petroleum imports.
But with the advances in engineering and drilling technology, so much natural gas from America’s vast shale deposits is being unlocked that the government’s 2011 estimate shows shale gas accounting for 40 percent of U.S. supplies by 2035, essentially eliminating the need for imports. “This is no minor change,” said Deutch, “this is an absolute sea change!
Read more: AEI
Deutch told the audience of students, faculty and public that only three years ago, government energy forecasts showed that, by 2030, the U.S. would import 25 percent of its natural gas needs, becoming dependent on the Middle East in a manner similar to that of U.S. petroleum imports.
But with the advances in engineering and drilling technology, so much natural gas from America’s vast shale deposits is being unlocked that the government’s 2011 estimate shows shale gas accounting for 40 percent of U.S. supplies by 2035, essentially eliminating the need for imports. “This is no minor change,” said Deutch, “this is an absolute sea change!
Read more: AEI
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