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efore the end of 2005, the U.S. price of natural gas rose above $15 per thousand cubic feet (mcf), nearly 12 times the record low reached in 1995. Production was down by about 8% compared to 2001, news reports speculated about supply shortages, and gas companies were gearing for expanded imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from overseas. Six years later, by the second week of April 2012, the market price of U.S. natural gas fell to less than $2 per mcf (to levels not seen since January 2002), nationwide gas extraction in 2011 was nearly 12% above the 2009 level, and record production was expected in 2012, when all storage sites would be filled to capacity. No wonder that gas companies are now planning to export LNG, and that new drilling projects have been shelved in the...