EIA report reveals U.S. natural gas production at record high
According to the recently released U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Natural Gas Monthly report, U.S. natural gas production reached a record high in 2105, peaking at 79 billion cubic feet per day – a five percent increase from 2014.
According to the report, natural gas production in most U.S. states declined, but huge surges in output in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, North Dakota and Oklahoma offset the decrease. As a result, gas prices fell between 2014 and 2015, potentially causing the decrease of production in most U.S. states.
The EIA used several different measures to determine total natural gas production, including gross withdrawals, marketed natural gas production and dry natural gas production. Each concept looked at several variables to determine total output, including considerations such as whether or not all plant liquids and non-hydrocarbon gas figures were determined before or after water, lease condensate, and oil were removed.
Natural gas production from West Virginia, Oklahoma, Ohio, North Dakota and Pennsylvania totaled 35 percent of all natural gas production last year. While Pennsylvania output was one of the highest last year, its rate of growth fell compared to 2014 figures.
The report projected that U.S. natural gas production will fall this year due to falling prices, but will increase again in 2017 as the price increases again.
