70 $/MMBtu for shale gas in the US – you must surely be joking?

Yet that was the situation  on some key locations on 5 February 2014, and typical prices were well above the magical crude oil parity of 15 $/MMBtu.  LNG vessels sharply changed course in the Atlantic to go to the US.  How can this happen in the magical land of overflowing shale oil and gas?  The explanation is complex.

Energy Perspectives presented much of the background for this unique situation in  a Whitepaper released in December 2013, and we have now released a strategic brief that confirms and significantly extends the work based on very detailed analysis.   Its title is “The plateau of US shale oil and gas – strategic implications”.  Here is a link to the full document Shale_oil_and_gas_plateau_EP2014.

We decided to release this generally because of the timeliness, and expect many to disagree with our results and recommendations.  The implications of bounded US shale resources are great even on the world scene.