Jeff McMahon, Contributor I cover green technology, energy and
the environment from Chicago. Hydraulic fracturing has made
natural gas so plentiful and cheap in the United States that rig
operators are opting to drill for oil, a BP economist said in
Chicago last night. In 2011 the United States passed Russia as
the world’s largest producer of natural gas, said Mark Finley,
BP’s general manager for global energy markets. But because the
U.S. lacks sufficient facilities to liquefy and ship natural
gas, most of that gas enters the domestic market. “If you had a
rig in the United States would you be looking for expensive oil
or inexpensive gas?” Finley asked about 75 people gathered at
the University of Chicago’s downtown Gleacher Center. “Maybe I’m
just a pointy-headed economist, but I’d be looking for the
expensive one.” As a result, in 2011 the United States had the
largest increase in oil production of any nation outside of
OPEC. And the OPEC nations increased production largely in
response to the disruption