US' limited LNG import capacity restricts gas access: Greenspan
New York (Platts)--20May2005
US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan Friday warned that the country's limited LNG infrastructure has restricted access to global gas supplies, even as US producers have failed to expand their production. Greenspan, in a speech to the Economic Club of New York, noted that despite "markedly higher drilling activity," the US natural gas sector in recent years "has been unable to noticeably expand production or to increase imports from Canada," resulting in "significant upward pressure on prices..." The Fed chief added that "North America's limited capacity to import liquefied natural gas has effectively restricted our access to the world's abundant supplies of gas." Without the levening impact of significant foreign supplies, "US natural gas prices since late 2002 have been notably higher, on average, than prices abroad. As a result, significant segments of the North American gas-using industry are in a weakened competitive position," said Greenspan. This story was originally published in Platts Natural Gas Alert http://www.naturalgasalert.platts.com
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