House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings released the following statement regarding the 2010 Annual Energy Outlook Report by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) that, at Ranking Member Hastings’ request, included an increased focus on the “The Importance of Shale Gas and other Low Permeability Natural Gas Reservoirs”:

“Last year, I became increasingly concerned about threats to the development of the American natural gas industry and the growing dependence on foreign natural gas to meet our needs. In response to my concerns, I asked the EIA for more research on the importance of shale gas, shale gas development and hydraulic fracturing in their annual report. Today’s report confirms that the high development of our shale gas resources will increase American natural gas production, decrease our dependence on foreign natural gas and reduce prices for American families. I’m hopeful this report will help the American people and Congress understand the importance of this tremendous natural gas resource for our economic future. The United States has an abundant supply of shale gas, and through innovation and technology we can safely increase American energy production while simultaneously creating American jobs. As we continue to look for solutions to meet our country’s energy demands, clean burning shale gas must be an important part of any comprehensive, all-of-the-above energy plan.”

According to the EIA analysis, high development of our shale gas resources would have the following impacts by 2035:

• Increase onshore natural gas production in the lower 48 states by 17%
• Decrease natural gas prices by 14%
• Decrease the United States’ net imports of natural gas by 44%

# # #

Print version of this document