TH: Oil, gas in La. shale hold great potential, industry leader says
Cheap, plentiful natural gas is a "game changer" that will bring untold jobs and wealth to Americans, the top official with an organization representing oil and gas interests in the state said Thursday.
Don Briggs, president of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, was in Alexandria as part of a series of "State of the Industry" appearances. Much of his presentation focused on shale plays in Louisiana, in particular the vast deposits of natural gas they contain.
"It's the bridge fuel of the future," Briggs said. "We're in a changing world. The neat thing is Louisiana is at the heart of it."
Vast resources have already been discovered in the northwest part of Louisiana in the Haynesville Shale. As big as that discovery has been, Briggs believes barely a tenth of the wells that will eventually be drilled in the formation have come online thus far.
Companies are starting exploration into the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale, which runs through Central Louisiana from Mississippi to Texas.
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"You've got some good companies involved in it," Briggs said of the Tuscaloosa Shale. "How far and how much bigger this thing can get, we don't know. They have to do a lot of testing."
The oil and gas found in such shale formations can be key to America's energy future, Briggs said. Natural gas, in particular, has almost limitless potential as a power generator, feedstock for industrial plants, transportation fuel and commodity to be exported.
"I can't tell you how critical it is to have natural gas for all our different businesses and industry," Briggs said. "The jobs this kind of asset can bring are enormous."
There are, however, challenges to taking advantage of that potential, including:
---Price.
Despite the potential of and demand for natural gas, the number of gas wells in the U.S. has shrunk recently as gas prices have remained low.
Natural gas prices went up more than 7 percent Thursday due to reports that supplies had shrunk more than analysts expected. Futures rose 17 cents to $2.55 per 1,000 cubic feet, but that's still too low, Briggs said.
