Natural Gas Prices Competing Against LNG

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jim Hackett said he sees headwinds for natural gas prices in part because of increased liquefied natural gas supplies.

“Our feeling is that natural gas prices have some challenges because of the LNG that may be coming this way due to our storage capability in the United States and the reduced industrial demand overseas,” Hackett said today in an interview in The Woodlands, after the company’s annual shareholders meeting.

Hackett said there needs to be a “reasonable market as well as a reasonable price,” and he called for gas to be used more in vehicles. There may be more than 100 years’ worth of supply to be found, he said. Gas futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange have dropped about 30 percent this year, compared with oil’s 33 percent increase.

“We need to have natural gas be the alternative fuel for the next 10 to 20 years until new technologies are developed and brought online,” Hackett said.

The crude oil “headwinds” may be less than for gas even though it also is in a full-storage situation, Hackett said. He said lower commodity prices for consumers are “effectively a fiscal stimulus that was not needed by government handouts.” He said prices need to be high enough for continued investment.

“One of the things we of course are pleased by is a modest rise in the price of oil recently, which we need to be able to continue to do deepwater drilling and remote exploration,” he said.

Anadarko is the second-largest independent oil and natural gas producer in the U.S. after Devon Energy Corp.

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