How Natural Gas is Changing Global Energy Market

[Parsad]

Excellent article on natural gas:

 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/46606934?__source=yahoo|headline|quote|text|&par=yahoo

 

Combine the oil sands in Canada with natural gas production in the U.S., and I suspect those questions of how will the United States feed its energy needs over the next 50 years are put to an end.  We haven't even touched on wind, solar, liquid metal batteries or nuclear energy.  Cheers!

[bargainman]

Right but with oil sands doesn't it still require more energy to get the oil than the oil produces?

[Parsad]

Right but with oil sands doesn't it still require more energy to get the oil than the oil produces?

 

No, not at all. 

 

http://www.investorplace.com/2012/02/suncor-su-continues-to-profit-from-oil-sands-energy-stocks-to-buy/

 

Cheers!

[bargainman]

Sanjeev, the link you sent discusses the profitability not the energy required, if I read it properly.  But I did some more research and I'm probably wrong:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_sands#Input_energy

 

looks like the number I was looking for was EROEI

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_returned_on_energy_invested

 

and it looks like it has turned >1 for oil sands.  I must have read that it was <1 many years ago...

[SharperDingaan]

EROEI is the wrong measure. Oil sands production burns large quantities of gas to produce the oil. You get more energy out (EROEI >1) but it is as less utilitarian oil vs more utilitarian gas. Gas prices are low, only because the market is flooded with shale gas that is no longer economical to drill.