Natural gas under Gulf may be too much of a good thing

The prospect of yet another new frontier for U.S. natural gas development, this time in super-deep wells beneath the Gulf of Mexico’s shallow waters, is not all good news for Houston’s energy sector.

A big uptick in output from the emerging region

Such a scenario is unlikely to play out in the next year or two, given the time needed to develop the complex wells. But within three to five years, if output materializes and gas from other sources keeps rising, it