Natural gas distribution revenue in the U.S. 2010-2022

The U.S. is the largest producer of natural gas in the world and the fourth largest exporter, having exported over 67 billion cubic meters of pipeline gas and 28 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas. Yet, the country’s natural gas distribution revenues are projected to fall from 110 billion U.S. dollars in 2010 to 75 billion U.S. dollars by 2022, as the prices have been beset by oversupply. In fact, benchmark prices have more than halved between 2014-2019. Additionally, the industrial price for natural gas in the U.S. is amongst the cheapest in the world, at 13.9 U.S. dollars per megawatt hour. To give this some perspective, it is two-fold less than that in the UK and five-fold lower as compared to the leading nation Switzerland. The outbreak of the corona virus has caused the prices to slump further. The Henry Hub natural gas prices fell to a two-decade low at 1.62 U.S. dollars per million British thermal units on April 3, 2020. In addition, the total oil and gas rig count has hit a record low of 339 in the week to May 15, according to data published by Baker Hughes Co.

美国是全球最大的天然气生产国，同时也是第四大出口国，其出口的管道天然气超过670亿立方米，液化天然气达280亿立方米。然而，据预测，该国天然气分销收入将从2010年的1100亿美元下降至2022年的750亿美元，这主要归因于供应过剩导致的油价下跌。事实上，在2014年至2019年间，基准价格已下降超过一半。此外，美国天然气的工业价格位居全球最低之列，每兆瓦时仅为13.9美元。以英国为例，这一价格仅为英国的一半，相较于瑞士这一领先国家，则低出五倍。新冠疫情的爆发进一步推低了价格。2020年4月3日，亨利枢纽的天然气价格下跌至每百万英热单位1.62美元，创下了二十年来新低。此外，根据贝克休斯公司发布的数据，截至5月15日的一周内，油气钻井平台总数已降至创纪录的低点339个。