Power Magazine Quotes Stephen Davis on Outlook for Natural Gas Industry

Akin Gump corporate partner Stephen Davis has been quoted in the Power magazine article “Natural Gas a Powerful Force, Despite Industry Headwinds.” Even as natural gas prices remain low around the world, the article reports that it remains the number one source of U.S. power generation and will likely hold in that spot for several more years.

As the article notes, the low prices are good news for natural gas customers, but a glut of gas can also be harmful. “The low cost of natural gas today is very difficult for a large number of producers,” said Davis. “We’ve seen an increase in the number of bankruptcy filings, and restructuring.”

Despite this, Davis does not think the natural gas industry “is going away anytime soon,” even though he agrees that power generation from renewables will eventually surpass gas-fired generation. “I think that largely depends on technology improvements in the solar and wind space. I think we’ll see better battery storage improvements. But I have an optimistic view of the future for natural gas, and of the fossil fuel industry.”

Davis also said that gas, because of its abundance, could help developing countries increase their population’s access to electricity: “I think the fossil fuel industry has a great capacity for doing that.”