By Mark Milke
and Lennie Kaplan
Canadian Energy Centre
The United States has undergone an energy renaissance of sorts in recent years. After decades of importing significant volumes of natural gas, there has been a transformation in both the economy and policy on that source of energy in particular.

Mark Milke
Americans began to produce and export natural gas in significantly higher quantities after technological changes (hydraulic fracturing or fracking) made extraction of previously uneconomic deposits easier to get at and bring to the surface. Supportive policy regimes that allowed for easier development of natural gas resources also helped.
Meanwhile, Canada has undergone a period of natural gas stagnation, partly the result of less supportive policies and regulatory constraints.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, as of 2019, U.S. natural gas production hit nearly 34 trillion cubic feet annually. That’s up nearly 14.8 trillion cubic feet since 2000, an increase of 77 per cent.