It has been a tough year for natural gas. Prices fell for most of the year as the global recession hit demand. Even as oil prices rose during the summer thanks to the production cuts by the Opec oil cartel, gas prices remained stubbornly low, widening the gap between oil and gas to levels not seen in two decades.

The fall in industrial demand was accompanied by a cool and rainy summer in the US that kept air conditioners off, reducing demand for electricity. The US generated about 20 per cent of its electricity from natural and other gas sources in 2007, according to US government figures – similar to nuclear power, but less than half the amount from coal-fired generation.