The U.S. went from being a net importer of natural gas to being the world's largest exporter.
Stephen Moore: Unleash Prosperity Hotline – The University of California at Berkeley's Haas Energy Institute, hardly a a right-wing source, has released blockbuster findings on the shale gas revolution:
It may seem like a distant memory now, but as of the mid-2000s, U.S. natural gas production had been flat for a decade, and the U.S. was importing liquefied natural gas (LNG), with plans to import much more. Then shale gas happened. Advances in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling caused U.S. natural gas production to increase significantly, and the U.S. went from being a net importer of natural gas to being the world's largest exporter.
This paper calculates how much shale gas has saved U.S. natural gas consumers. Using price differences between the United States, Europe and Japan, we calculate that U.S. natural gas consumers have saved $3.1-$4.3 trillion between 2007 and 2025, equivalent to $164-$227 billion annually.
We at UP were sharply criticized for saying at the early stages of the shale oil and gas revolution a decade ago that fracking was the energy policy equivalent to curing cancer. Back then, critics warned that fracking would cause earthquakes, toxic drinking water, and floods from rising oceans. This study's findings of trillions of dollars of benefits from fracking and horizontal drilling is sweet vindication.
History is now repeating itself as many of the same crowd that took to the streets to fight fracking have come out guns blazing against AI and data centers. They are even using some of the same discredited arguments and scare tactics.
