LNG exports would cut gas prices in Asia, raise them in U.S., study finds

An impending flood of U. S. shale gas into the global market stands to lower the price of the heating fuel in Asia by almost five per cent while marginally raising costs to customers at home, a study commissioned by the U.S. Energy Department shows. Exports of 20 billion cubic feet of U.S. gas by 2040 may cut prices in the Asia-Pacific market by 73 U.S. cents per million British thermal units, while increas- ing U.S. prices by a mere 17 U.S. cents in the same period, according to the study authored by Oxford Economics and the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University. Despite the climb in domestic prices, the shipments would be “marginally positive” for the U.S. economy because of big- ger profits and more spending on production of the fuel, the report shows. The analysis comes as U. S. regulators consider an unprecedented number of proposals to export natural gas from booming shale fields. The surge in production from the tight-rock formations led to record stockpiles of the fuel domestically, and producers are looking for markets abroad to alleviate the glut.