Natural gas may be the future.
Natural gas is here to stay, and it is helping the United States, Canada and even parts of Europe to reduce their dependence on oil. In our latest blog series, we touched on the environmental impacts of utilizing natural gas. Today, we are going to be talking about the economic impacts of natural gas.
Is natural gas a cheaper option than crude oil?
When crude oil reached its most expensive back in 2008, it was over $140 a barrel. If you had switched from diesel fuel to natural gas back then, you would have enjoyed a 60% savings. Today, however, the cost of oil has decreased substantially and it is much closer to the cost of natural gas. The important thing to note here is that, while the costs of natural gas and oil are very close today, they aren’t likely to remain so in the future. Oil prices can shift dramatically for many reasons. Since we have to depend on other countries for our oil, everything from inclement weather to political issues can drastically affect the price of oil. For instance, when ISIS started to plant itself in the northern regions of Iraq, the price of oil shot up to over $115 a barrel. Natural gas prices, on the other hand, remain fairly consistent over the years, and as more and more natural gas is produced, we may even see lower prices over the next few years.
Even while oil prices are low, natural gas is still the cheaper fuel option, and as you can see, if we were to rely on natural gas rather than crude oil, we’d have a much more consistently priced source of energy. Also, companies, like Well Water Solutions, are making the production of natural gas much more efficient. Learn more about our innovative solutions, like water treatment technology and water storage tanks, by contacting us today.
Stay tuned for our next blog to learn more about the economic impacts of natural gas.
