Survival.
It’s what the natural gas industry is intent on doing as wind and solar energy expand not just in Oklahoma and the rest of the U.S. but across the world.
The green energy growth has forced the natural gas industry to take cost-cutting steps. Energy consultants Wood Mackenzie say gas and oil producers have cut overheads by a third in the past four years, according to a report in the Tulsa World. Companies are rewriting contracts, building mobile liquefied natural gas terminals and taking more steps to save money wherever they can.
“This is about getting affordable energy out,” said Jens Okland, executive vice president of marketing, midstream and processing at Equinor ASA, Norway’s biggest energy company. “A lot of these LNG projects are huge. You need to make them cheaper, quite simply.”
It’s about staying alive in an ever-changing energy world. With cheaper wind turbines and solar panels and a shift to less-polluting forms of energy, the natural gas industry is learning to keep gas affordable.
Competition is greater than ever for the natural gas industry . Reports indicate that in Germany, solar and onshore wind power are already comparable to gas, based on the value of electricity.