Powder River Basin and Northern/Central Appalachia

41 Pages·2012·0.47 MB·English

by  Gaye Hager

Powder River Basin and
Northern/Central Appalachia
Production Outlook

Presentation to:

Platts 35th Annual
Coal Marketing Days Conference

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
September 21, 2012

Nick Bradley
Alan K. Stagg
Stagg Resource Consultants, Inc.
CONTEXT

Coal is a commodity.

Within broad categories, coal is
essentially fungible.

Like all commodities, it is
extremely sensitive to supply
and demand issues.
CONTEXT

There is a multiplicity of factors
affecting coal’s use –

 Economic
 Environmental
 Logistical
 Societal
 Political
CONTEXT

Coal miner’s, and all natural
resource producers, by their
very nature are optimistic.

How else could you go back
every day thinking that markets,
conditions, and all the problems
you faced yesterday will
somehow be better today.
COAL MINER’S CREED

The coal always gets thicker
under the hill.

The parting always get thinner
under the hill.

Coal prices are going up the
second quarter of next year.
QUESTIONS POSED TODAY
POWDER RIVER BASIN

How have natural gas prices
impacted PRB coal’s long-
standing price advantage?

What additional production
issues might the basin face?

How may exports play a role in
the growth of coal production?
QUESTIONS POSED TODAY

NORTHERN AND CENTRAL APP

What challenges is eastern coal
production facing?

What might be the next big
opportunities for CAPP coal?
SETTING THE STAGE

Demand is down

Prices are down

Production is down

Employment is down
SETTING THE STAGE

The Boogie Man

Increasingly restrictive regulatory
challenges on both supply and
demand sides

Is there a War on Coal?
Just the facts ma’am,
just the facts