Barnett Shale Petroleum Drilling site located in North Central
Texas. Economist Weighs Pros, Cons of Natural Gas Exports There
are likely few benefits for the U.S. in exporting abundant
natural gas supplies, says a Purdue University energy economist.
Wally Tyner, the James and Lois Ackerman Professor of
Agricultural Economics, compared his own analysis, which
determined that natural gas exports would have a negative
economic and environmental impact, to another conducted for the
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that predicted a small net
economic gain, mostly accruing to natural gas owners. An
increase in natural gas supplies brought about by the shale gas
boom led the DOE to consider export an option. Tyner says that
even with a $10 billion gain under the DOE study, costs would
increase in all energy-intensive sectors in the U.S. The DOE
study also did not look at the environmental impacts associated
with exporting gas. "The economic gain or loss is small," Tyner
says. "But in addition to that, we would expec