Photo courtesy of sierraactivist.org.

The New York Times is reporting today that the nuclear crisis in Japan may have a direct impact on American drilling, as global business analysts predict a surge in natural gas demand in the coming weeks and years. Compared to the perceived instability of nuclear energy, the environmental toll of coal mining, and the safety risks involved in deepwater oil drilling, natural gas is being viewed by many as the safe fuel alternative.

From the NYT:

Still, with the global demand for energy expected to grow by double digits in coming decades, analysts are anticipating a new boom in gas consumption. Given the growing concerns about nuclear power and the constraints on carbon emissions, one bank, Société Générale, called natural gas the fuel of “no choice.”

“At the end of the day, when you look at the risk-reward equation, natural gas comes out as a winner,” said Lawrence J. Goldstein, an economist at the Energy Policy Research Foundation. “It’s a technical knockout.”

Financial markets have already started to price in this new interest in gas. Since the disaster in Japan, uranium prices have dropped by 30 percent, while natural gas prices in Europe and the United States have risen by about 10 percent. Officials from several countries, including China, Germany, Finland and South Africa, said they would review their nuclear strategies.

Read the entire article here.

Submitted by Patrick McQueen