US Natural Gas Price Versus Europe

Natural gas prices in the US and Europe have generally tracked rather close to each other.  This graph shows that natural gas prices in Europe, using UK prices as a proxy for Europe, have risen while US prices have declined.  The price difference is around a factor of three.  This has been the result of technology in the US that provide access to natural gas deposits that were not accessible with older technologies.  There are still many questions about the environmental impacts from the use of these technologies.  In particular, there are concerns about their impact on fresh water supplies.  The use of natural gas, however, is much better than the use of coal for carbon emissions.