The Quest- Chapter 16: Natural Gas Revolution

We sometimes tend to group oil and gas together as if they are the same. In reality, although they are both fossil fuels, they are quite different. They are formed in slightly different ways (although obviously related), one can occur without the other, they both have different carbon footprint and environmental impacts, and have quite different economics. This distinction became a major element of the natural gas revolution. Whereas oil was a challenge, natural gas was a preferred alternative in the transition from a coal and oil-based sector to a non-fossil fuel sector. How can this be? It is based on all the aspects we have learned about over the semester. The same way oil is cleaner and easier to get than coal, natural gas is easier than oil. Most importantly as we shall see in chapter 21, it has a lower carbon footprint.

This is a great story in itself, but it is further enhanced by the fact that the same fracturing technology used for tight oil in prior years, can be applied to shales containing natural gas. The development of the natural gas market could not have come at a better time. It not only addressed cost and climate impact concerns compared to oil, but it allowed the US to become energy independent, and actually, an energy exporter.

Being in control of such a natural gas bounty was critical considering the power that Russia wielded over Europe with its natural gas resource. US production of natural gas offered a counterbalance to the leverage Russia had with its reserves. The assigned sections of the chapter discuss Gazprom, the Ukraine-Russia love/hate relationship over gas reserves and transmission, and the reason the Nord Stream pipeline is so prominent in the news today.