In case you're not aware, there is considerable uncertainty about the future of the natural gas market in North America, largely due to the so-called shale gas boom which has caused domestic supply growth to outpace demand over the last few years. In the last two years, utilities and petroleum companies from overseas have started investing in North American natural gas production, particularly in the large shale gas plays driving the boom. That's the setting for Peter Tertzakian's latest energy column for the Calgary Herald. Tertzakian follows the increasing influx of foreign joint-venture capital, discusses some important market characteristics, and decides that the $17.2 billion in foreign capital will keep supply high and prices low for the next few years. He writes:

A lot of shale gas wells can be drilled for $17.2 billion. Using a back-of-the-envelope average well cost of $5 million, that's about 3,500 high-volume natural gas wells over three years. Simulating the cumulative production accruing from drilling, say 100 horizontal wells per month over three years, yields close to 4.5 Bcf/d of new output. Now we know why drilling activity and production volumes remains stubbornly high.

Read much more, here.