In booming Permian Basin oil patch, natural gas is sometimes given away
By Rebecca Elliott
Published: Dec 27, 2018 10:12 a.m. ET
Producers have had to give away their gas — or even pay for removal — as pipeline bottlenecks worsen
Natural gas now helps generate about one-third of U.S. electricity, and it has become a valuable export commodity as ships take liquefied natural gas to Asia and Europe. For those fortunate enough to be near the Permian, like in Midland, Texas, shown here, getting it for nothing has been a boon.
American energy companies have spent billions of dollars in the past decade exploring for natural gas. But in parts of Texas and New Mexico, there is now so much of it that it is sometimes worthless. Some companies have even had to pay buyers to take it away.
Shale drillers in the Permian Basin are producing vast amounts of gas as a byproduct of prospecting for oil CLG9, +1.14% . But there aren’t enough pipelines to take all the gas to market, causing some of it to become landlocked, and sending local prices into free fall.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/in-booming-permian-basin-oil-patch-natural-gas-is-sometimes-given-away-2018-12-27