Natural Gas: Another Great Thing from a Lobby Near You

Robert Rapier, writing in The Oil Drum (here), has calculated that we could replace all gasoline currently consumed in the United States with natural gas (NG), while still continuing current NG usage, for as long as 53 years. He arrives at this figure using published totals for proven reserves plus the sum of the nation’s probable, possible and speculative reserves. The duration is shortened to about 20 years if only proven and probable reserves are included.

This approach to energy policy was popularized last year by T. Boone Pickens. His Pickens' Plan (here) is still going strong, although Pickens' wind farm plans and advertizing campaigns have been slowed by reduced availability of financing. If the cost of oil continues to rise, this activity will probably speed up again.