Natural gas fuel makes the most sense in heavy trucks because they burn a lot of fuel, and the lower price of gas makes it pay for the still-stiff upcharges for NG equipment. The more miles run and the heavier the truck, the better the return on investment for a natural gas truck, Kolodziej and other presenters pointed out.
A Lifetime Supply
Low prices will continue because America is sitting on plenty of natural gas something repeatedly reported in the general media and trade press in recent years and it was reiterated by most speakers at this meeting. Many cited estimates of 100 years supply and growing, as Kolodziej said.
Based on estimates he's seen, T. Boone Pickens, the oilman-turned-chairman and CEO of BP Capital Management and campaigner for conversion of over-the-road trucks to natural gas, thinks there are probably 2,000 trillion cubic feet of gas in the ground, which supports the 100-year-supply estimate.
Pickens quoted a J.P Morgan study that put reserves at 8,000 trillion, but its not all recoverable, Pickens points out. "I think 30 to 40% is, and that would be 3,000 trillion. And 3,000 trillion is twice what the Saudis have in oil, and that's declining.
"We will run out of oil and diesel 100 years before we run out of natural gas," he declared.
The fact that we're sitting on such an abundant supply suggests prices are going to stay reasonable for the foreseeable future. Pickens says the important factor is the spread between natural gas and diesel.
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