Shell warns on US natural gas bounce Royal Dutch Shell expects US natural gas prices to double by 2015, rebounding strongly from the 10-year lows they have hit as a result of the shale gas boom as US domestic demand for the fuel grows. In an interview, Shell chief executive Peter Voser said prices would remain under pressure in the short-term "but we would see a recovery . . . in the second half of the decade." For planning purposes, he said, Shell was using a price of $4-$6 per million British thermal units for 2014-15, up from the current $2.55. Mr Voser said gas demand in the US would rise "as coal is replaced by gas in electricity generation, and gas in transportation takes off." He added that the low price would push some producers to curtail output, allowing the price to rise. The widespread use of techniques such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," has led to a boom in gas production in the US, creating a surplus that has depressed prices and put many operators under pressure. The shale revolution is now spreading beyond North America to Europe and Asia, especially China, which could have even larger shale resources than the US, according to a recent estimate by the US Energy Information Administration. Some companies, however, have questioned whether the reserves can be developed economically. Shell has a larger presence in Chinese shale gas than any of the other majors. It said recently that it completed 11 shale gas wells there last year and hoped to double that tally this year. Mr Voser said the wells drilled so far had shown "very encouraging flow rates." He said shale gas in China would be a "very affordable and competitive energy source" and would "meet [Shell's] criteria for profitability." It is also examining plans to liquefy US gas for export - which would allow it to attract higher prices, particularly in Asia - transform it into clean-burning transport fuel through gas-to-liquids technology and use it as a feedstock for petrochemicals. These moves would reduce its exposure to the depressed price of Henry Hub, the US benchmark. Like many US operators it is also switching to "liquid-rich" plays - shale developments that contain valuable hydrocarbon liquids as well as gas. In partnership with Kogas, Mitsubishi and CNPC, Shell is planning to build a liquefied natural gas plant in Kitimat, British Columbia, that would supply energy-hungry markets in Asia. Mr Voser predicted that the US too would become a sizable LNG exporter "with a few percentage points of the global market."