Here’s an updated talk on North American natural gas including an in depth consideration of shale gas and its potential. Certain groups, in particular the American Clean Skies Foundation http://www.cleanskies.org and the newly formed American Natural Gas Alliance http://www.anga.us would have us believe that natural gas is so abundant it can replace US oil imports and we should be looking at replacing the vehicle fleet with natural gas.

The hype surrounding this is premature in my opinion, as 90% of shale gas production comes from the Barnett shale in east Texas (80%) and the long declining Antrim shale in Michigan (10%). The hype would have us believe that all other shale plays, which so far are producing little, will ultimately match the performance of the Barnett. The attached presentation critically examines this and some of the statements that have been made pro and con.

I was asked to present this by the Capital Region Energy Forum in Albany New York in part as a counter to a talk presented before me by an attorney at the same meeting from the American Clean Skies Foundation (I have also provided expert testimony in Colorado recently countering some of the statements made by this organization). There is a lot of misinformation on gas out there (Canada’s gas production is now falling at nearly 6% per year and NEB is forecasting it will be down 17% by 2011, yet Enbridge is talking of building a pipeline to the west coast to export Canadian gas!).

Natural Gas in North America: A Panacea to Replace Imported Oil?

David Hughes is a geoscientist who has studied the energy resources of Canada for nearly four decades, including  32 years with the Geological Survey of Canada as a scientist and research manager. He developed the National Coal Inventory to determine the availability and environmental constraints associated with Canada’s coal resources. As Team Leader for Unconventional Gas on the Canadian Gas Potential Committee, he coordinated the recent publication of a comprehensive assessment of Canada’s unconventional natural gas potential. Over the past decade, he has researched, published and lectured widely on global energy and sustainability issues in North America and internationally. He is a board member of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas – Canada and is a Fellow of the Post Carbon Institute. He recently contributed to “Carbon Shift”, an anthology edited by Thomas Homer-Dixon on the twin issues of peak energy and climate change, and his work has been featured in Canadian Business, Walrus and other magazines, as well as through the popular press, radio, television and the internet. He is currently president of a consultancy dedicated to research on energy and sustainability issues.