据国外媒体9月27日科罗拉多州丹佛市报道，根据美国合作银行（CoBank）的最新研究报告，美国的天然气需求自20世纪70年代初以来目前正以最快的速度增长。作为天然气工业未来5年发展前景的基石，天然气需求增长现在已经取代了天然气供应增长。
这份新发布的题目为“2020年前美国天然气前景展望：需求是轮船的新船长”的报告指出，低成本和可靠天然气供应的承诺已刺激了所有终端用户的大规模投资。因此，对美国天然气的需求在未来5年里将增长25%，而天然气出口将占增长的一半。
来自美国的一部分天然气出口将通过管道输送到墨西哥，但大部分天然气将被液化随后装上运输船运往欧洲和亚洲的海外市场。报告预测美国在今后的两年里将成为一个天然气净出口国，从而把美国变成全球能源市场的一个主要供应国。
报告的作者泰勒说：“美国绝对是全球天然气市场的游戏规则改变者。”
报告说，由于水力压裂技术和水平钻井技术的进步，自200年以来，大量的天然气被释放出来。美国的干气总产量在今后5年里将增加29%，与需求增长平行。即使美国天然气的供需有大幅度的计划增长，未来5年，天然气也只会从目前低水平徘徊的价格小幅改变至百万英热值5美元以下。
这份报告是由CoBank的知识交流部发表的。
李峻 编译
原文如下：
U.S. will be net exporter of natural gas by 2017, report says
World Natural Gas News
9/27/2015
DENVER, Colorado -- The United States' natural gas demand is currently growing at the fastest pace since the early 1970s, and demand growth has now supplanted supply growth as the cornerstone for the outlook of the U.S. natural gas industry over the next five years, according to a new CoBank research report.
The newly issued report, U.S. Natural Gas Outlook through 2020: Demand Is the New Captain of the Ship, points out that the promise of low-cost, reliable natural gas supplies has spurred major investments by all end-users. As a result, the demand for U.S. natural gas will grow 25% over the next five years, with gas exports accounting for over half the growth.
A portion of the gas exported from the U.S. will be pipelined to Mexico, but most of it will be liquefied and then loaded onto tanker ships destined for overseas markets in Europe and Asia. The report projects that the U.S. will become a net exporter of natural gas within the next two years, transforming the U.S. into a major supplier to the global energy markets.
"It's definitely a game changer for the global gas markets," Taylor Gunn, the author of the report, said.
Vast quantities of natural gas have been unleashed since 2008 thanks to advancements in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. The nation's total dry natural gas production is projected to increase by 29% over the next five years, paralleling the growth in demand. Even with the large projected growth in the nation's demand and supply of natural gas, natural gas prices are expected to remain little changed from their current low levels—hovering well below $5 per MMBtu over the next five years.
The report was produced by CoBank's Knowledge Exchange Division.
