Truth and misconception sharing the same bed.
Shale gas development and deliverability are doing well and prospering, thank you. The flattening of the total domestic production curve is inevitable at current NG prices: ALL producing wells, shale or otherwise decline on a continuing basis. The flattening of the production curve merely demonstrates that shale development has slowed to replacement of that decline rather than >100% offset. There is exactly zero surprise in this fact. Energy news organs have been filled in recent months - since that extreme low price back in April - with announcements by various operators of curtailed drilling in these plays. Further, the State of New York has put a big hunk of the Marcellus - the most desirable and economic of the shale plays - on hold.
Within the scope of the potential shale development is an economically healthy mean-reverting mechanism, the greater or lesser presence of natural gas liquids. Priced in line with crude oil, those liquids create a spread of breakeven prices for various shale gas developments. These will act a governor on domestic NG price for decades if we don't allow the export of more than our surplus. Egregiously low energy prices are as bad for us as egregiously high prices. The latter damages the consumer side of the economy, the former the producer side. We require both to be healthy.
As for all the hyperventilating over hydraulic fracturing, been there, done that CORRECTLY, caused zero problems. Many, many industrial processes lead to dire consequences when executed incorrectly (think Union Carbide and Bhopal, India). What we need is good regulation, not bad propaganda. The ability of ignorant alarmists to drive the political agenda has never been greater than currently. YOU JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT. Any number of Matt Damon movies will not alter that truth.
