Quiz: 1. How much natural gas is the United States currently extracting? (a) Barely enough to meet its own needs (b) Enough to allow lots of exports (c) Enough to allow a bit of exports (d) The United States is a natural gas importer Answer: (d) The United States is a natural gas importer, and has been for many years. The EIA is forecasting that by 2017, we will finally be able to meet our own natural gas needs. In fact, this last year, with a cold winter, we have had a problem with excessively drawing down amounts in storage. Figure 2. US EIA’s chart showing natural gas in storage, compared to the five year average, from Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report . There is even discussion that at the low level in storage and current rates of production, it may not be possible to fully replace the natural gas in […]