[bumby]

As you say, much of the low gas prices that have occurred in recent memory is due to fracking. Those of us who are a bit older remember when natural gas used to be much higher than we're currently seeing, even before adjusting for inflation.

The energy companies used to also ramp up production in areas like the Permian Basin as soon as oil/gas reached certain thresholds. They are generally being much more disciplined right now because of uncertainty about the pandemic. From that perspective, the prices are more indicative of the "post-pandemic" economic recovery than inflation. If there was less uncertainty about the pandemic recovery, they would be more likely to invest in additional drilling and the price would come down from current levels. They just don't want to be caught ramping up production while seeing a simultaneous pandemic-driven downturn in demand.