In the last decade, Appalachia natural gas production rocketed up to more than 35 Bcf/d, often straining infrastructure and crushing local price basis. With Mountain Valley Pipeline’s prospects at risk and no new major Northeast takeaway pipeline additions likely, producers and marketers are adapting to a new normal. What will that mean for regional supply availability/response and prices?

As the decarbonization journey continues, much is being learned about the vital role that natural gas must play going forward. Decarbonization in isolation, without considering other critical energy elements (reliability and affordability), is a hollow goal. This panel will share insight around how we can realistically achieve a low-carbon energy future, by intelligently leveraging natural gas in the energy mix. Natural gas supply is plentiful, reliable and affordable. Natural gas infrastructure (existing and new) offers great opportunities for innovation in re-purposing such as Carbon Capture, H2 blending, Certified Gas delivery, to achieve low-carbon goals.

As natural gas markets evolve through energy transition, challenges are encountered that demand improvements in technology solutions to facilitate and streamline transactions across the value chain. Fortunately, leading technology providers are rising to this challenge with innovative solutions to anticipate the evolution. This panel will introduce several examples of solutions that are available now to optimize efficiency of transactions and coalesce a fragmented market. Examples will be presented from a practical, non-technical, commercially oriented perspective. Technologies underlying these innovations include Artificial Intelligence (AI; e.g. ChatGPT); predictive analytics, simulation software, blockchain, cloud-based access from anywhere, integration (e.g. EDI), customizable APIs, data digitization, encryption and cybersecurity, workflow optimization, etc.