Differentiated Natural Gas Market Working Paper

Purchasers of natural gas are driving sustainability practices in their natural gas supply chains. These efforts include collaborating with natural gas producers to gather information on environmental and social practices and performance and leveraging this information to inform natural gas supply decisions. Consistent with this focus, many natural gas producers are expanding voluntary reporting on environmental and social topics and adopting innovative technologies and practices to minimize environmental impacts. Some producers are also pursuing third-party certification of practices to further improve operations and bolster information available to purchasers and other stakeholders. These efforts have led to the development of a nascent but growing market for natural gas differentiated by the environmental and social practices of natural gas producers.

This working paper is intended to provide an overview of the differentiated natural gas market for diverse stakeholders, including companies throughout the natural gas value chain, state regulators and policy makers, natural gas marketers, natural gas consumers, and investors. The Natural Gas Supply Collaborative will continue to engage with these and other stakeholders to support the growth of a differentiated gas market and welcomes continued feedback on this document as the differentiated gas market evolves.