HOUSTON, June 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. production of natural gas is expected to grow by another 60 percent over the next 20 years, the business information provider IHS Markit said on Wednesday in a report.
IHS Markit expected U.S. natural gas production to rise by almost 8 billion cubic feet (about 227 million cubic meters) per day or more than 10 percent in 2018 alone
The new report, entitled The Shale Gale Turns 10: A Powerful Wind at America's Back assesses the impacts of the first 10 years of the unconventional gas revolution-unlocked through the combination of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling technologies-and its future potential.
When the shale revolution began a decade ago, the prevailing assumption was that the U.S. supply base was being exhausted and that the country would have to become a major importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Instead, in what the report describes as a "wholesale turnaround," U.S. output rose by more than 40 percent in that first decade through 2017 and real natural gas prices fell by two thirds during the same period.
In contrast to the assumption a decade ago, the United States is now on track to become one of the world's major LNG exporters, the report notes.
Daniel Yergin, vice chairman, IHS Markit and co-author of the report said, "It represents a dramatic and largely unanticipated turnaround that dramatically changed both markets and long-term thinking about energy."
By 2040, IHS Markit expected that natural gas' share to grow from almost one-third to nearly half of all electricity generated in the United States.
