Dow Chemical Will Still Be Globally Competitive With Natural Gas Exports
From Seeking Alpha
Mark J. Perry
A major energy controversy in Washington right now is whether the federal government should allow U.S. energy companies to sell some of their natural gas bonanza to eager buyers overseas, and if so, whether those gas exports should be restricted or limited. The main concern of those groups opposing “unchecked” natural gas exports and who are aggressively engaged in lobbying rent-seeking to limit gas exports if they are even allowed, is the possibility that exports of our low-cost, abundant natural gas would put upward pressure on domestic prices.
And who are those groups that are worried about rising gas prices? Heavy gas-consuming chemical and manufacturing companies like Dow Chemical, Nucor Steel (NUE), and Alcoa Aluminum (AA) who want to keep as much of America’s shale gas bonanza to themselves at the current, historically low prices, and keep their profits as high as possible. Those energy-hungry, gas-guzzlers have recently joined forces in an organization called America’s Energy Advantage (for Big Chemical and Big Steel), to engage in rent-seeking activities to oppose “unfettered natural gas exports.”
So the big question is: what effect would natural gas exports actually have on domestic prices? Based on three independent research reports, the answer is clearly “not very much.”
