We’ve blogged about rising demand for natural gas in the southeastern U.S. and several of the pipeline projects being planned to deliver more gas to that fast-growing region. But there’s more to the story — a bigger picture — namely, that gas consumers in Florida and other states pulling gas east through Mississippi increasingly find themselves competing for supply with LNG exporters. In today’s RBN blog, we begin a two-part series on Southeast gas demand, new pipeline capacity to and through the region, and why the gas flowing there is priced higher than Henry Hub.
Ask your favorite chatbot which states are in the southeastern U.S. and you’ll get a long list — generally, everything within the huge triangle formed by the Virginias, Florida and Louisiana. The Southeastern Conference (SEC) of the NCAA includes Oklahoma, Missouri, Kentucky and two universities in Texas (one of which we like!). But for our purposes, we’re zeroing in on the southeasternmost swath: from west to east, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. While these five states account for only 0.4% (~ 400 MMcf/d) of total U.S. natural gas production, their share of U.S. gas consumption is 30X higher — about 12% or 11 Bcf/d — mostly due to their heavy (and growing) reliance on gas-fired power generation and (especially in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi) a lot of industrial demand too.
Gas-demand growth in the region has been coming on fast and furious over the past few years, stressing the legacy gas pipeline networks there and resulting in the SONAT (Southern Natural), Florida Zone 3 and Transco Zone 4 price trading points — primary indicators of gas prices in our five-state focus area — being among the very few points where gas is priced at a premium to Henry Hub. [Figure 1 below shows April first-of-month (FOM) differentials — the green-shaded circles indicate trading points where the FOM differential is a premium to Henry.]
Figure 1. April FOM Natural Gas Basis. Source: NGI
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About the song
“The Big Picture” was written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin and appears as the seventh song on Elton John’s 25th studio album of the same name. The song’s lyrics talk about lasting love and looking at the bigger picture during a time of introspection. Personnel on the record were: Elton John (vocals, acoustic piano), Davey Johnstone, John Jorgenson (guitar), Bob Birch (bass), Charlie Morgan (drums, percussion), and Guy Babylon, Anne Dudley (string arrangements).
The album The Big Picture was recorded between November 1996 and May 1997 at Townhouse Studios and AIR Studios Lyndhurst in London and produced by Chris Thomas. The album, which dropped in September 1997, was dedicated to Gianni Versace, John’s fashion designer friend, who had been murdered shortly before the album’s release. The album went to #9 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and has been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Three singles were released from the LP.
Elton John (Reginald Kenneth Dwight) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. He started playing piano at an early age, winning a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music in London. His partnership with lyricist Bernie Taupin is one of the most successful in history. John released his debut studio album, Empty Sky, in 1969. He has released 31 studio albums, five live albums, 10 soundtrack albums, 16 compilation albums, four EPs and 148 singles and has sold more than 300 million records worldwide. He has won two Academy Awards, an Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, six Grammy Awards, a Tony Award, nine ASCAP Awards, three American Music Awards, six BMI Awards, three Brit Awards, and seven Ivor Novello Awards. John also has a CBE and has been knighted, is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame and has received Kennedy Center Honors and a National Humanities Medal. He performed his last concert before officially retiring in July 2023 in Stockholm. Since then, he has made an appearance singing “Tiny Dancer” at the premiere of the documentary, Elton John: Never Too Late, in New York City in October 2024. He has also appeared on recent singles with Brandi Carlisle, Spinal Tap and Sam Fender.
"About the Song" -- written by Mickey McMahan , RBN Director of Musicology
