Connect Summer 2017 | Page 4

U.S. Natural Gas Abundance Creates Need for Pipeline Infrastructure For decades, the U.S. depended on the rest of the world for much of its energy. In 2005, the U.S. imported approximately 60 percent of its petroleum and was on the cusp of becoming a global importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Major energy companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp., BP and Chevron Corp. were planning to spend billions on natural gas import terminals to offset the decline in U.S. production, which had fallen below 50 billion cubic feet per day. Growth in U.S. Natural Gas Consumption The combination of plentiful production, low commodity pricing and more stringent environmental regulations have fueled a resurgence in the popularity of natural gas. Fast forward to 2017 and America’s energy landscape has been turned upside down. Today, the country is the world’s top producer of both petroleum and natural gas for the fifth straight year, making a dramatic shift from energy dependence to energy dominance. In addition to heating more than half of U.S. homes, in 2015 natural gas overtook coal as the top source of U.S. electric power generation. Today, approximately 35 percent of U.S. electric power generation comes from natural gas. For the sudden abundance of energy, Americans can thank hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, an innovative drilling technique for unlocking gas and oil deposits in hard-to- access rock formations. In 2016, fracking produced more than half of America’s crude oil. And thanks to fracking, U.S. natural gas production has surged by more than 50 percent since 2005 to approximately 90 billion cubic feet per day. 4 The U.S. has such a surplus of natural gas that this year, for the first time ever, the country started turning its natural gas into LNG and sending it overseas. In fact, in 2017 the country expects to export more of the heating fuel than it imports for the first time since the 1950s. In its 2017 Annual Energy Outlook, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that by 2040 natural gas will account for 40 percent of all U.S. energy production. It also suggests that natural gas use will increase more than other fuel sources, thanks to significant demand from the industrial and electric power sectors. Low natural gas prices have helped the U.S. industrial sector enjoy a renaissance in domestic manufacturing, particularly in the petrochemical industry, creating significant new markets for gas and related natural gas liquids. According to CONNECT: A PUBLICATION FOR WILLIAMS CUSTOMERS | VOL. 5, ISSUE 1