Baku, Azerbaijan, July 10
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The US saw a record level of natural gas consumption and production in 2018, with more than 90 percent of the natural gas consumed being produced domestically, Trend reports citing the Energy Information Administration.
The report shows that during the reporting period, natural gas production and consumption in the country reached record highs of about 30 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) in 2018.
“As US natural gas production has increased, exports of natural gas have also increased and recently have started to surpass natural gas imports. The United States became a net exporter of natural gas in 2017. In 2018, the United States exported a record of nearly 4 Tcf of natural gas, either by pipeline to Mexico and Canada or shipped overseas as liquefied natural gas (LNG). Natural gas imports that year were 3 Tcf, the lowest since 2015,” said the report.
“US natural gas production has increased in the past decade as the widespread adoption of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques has allowed producers to more economically produce natural gas from shale formations. Shale gas now makes up a higher percentage of total US natural gas production than natural gas produced from both traditional natural gas wells and from crude oil wells as associated natural gas. Smaller volumes of natural gas are also produced from coal seams, called coalbed methane,” said EIA.
Marketed natural gas production, which excludes natural gas used for repressuring the well, vented and flared gas, and any nonhydrocarbon gases, was nearly 33 Tcf, according to the report.
EIA said that the US marketed natural gas was further processed into 30 Tcf of dry natural gas and 2 Tcf of natural gas plant liquids.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn