BP natgas exec says prices ‘need’ to stay high

CHICAGO (Reuters) – A senior executive for BP Energy North America said Wednesday natural gas prices need to remain in their current range near $11 per million British thermal units in order to support necessary investment in infrastructure and promote further development.

Brian Frank, president of BP North America Gas and Power, told participants at GasMart on Wednesday that the industry is facing enormous challenges as current market dynamics show unprecedented commodity values, U.S. dollar weakness and relatively unstable financial markets.


But as emerging economies like India, China and South America compete for global energy supplies of liquefied natural gas, the United States has a growing need to invest in domestic energy production and infrastructure.

“A big deal is being made that BP in the last five years made $35 billion. What isn’t being discussed is that we invested $35 billion in the U.S. alone in those five years, $7 billion last year with half of that in renewables,” Frank said.

Reuters