Natural gas plant liquid production continues at record pace

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) maintains natural gas plant liquids (NGPL) production is continuing at record levels.

The EIA said NGPL production has significantly increased, averaging 4.3 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2018, up from 2.5 million b/d in 2012 – noting almost three-quarters of NGPL production is concentrated within six producing regions.

Further EIA analysis determined the Northern Appalachian region offered the largest increase, where production rose from 43 thousand b/d in 2012 to 512 thousand b/d in 2017 while NGPL production doubled in both the Permian Basin in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico, as well as the Eagle Ford play in southern Texas from 2012 to 2017. Production in the Bakken play more than tripled.

Officials noted Northern Appalachia is one of the few areas fractionating

NGPLs in the same region where they are produced and in December of last year the Department of Energy published a report highlighting the development potential for a new ethane hub in the Appalachian region.

The EIA said NGPLs typically sell at higher values than methane on a heat-content basis because they are priced against crude oil-derived fuels and the yield can vary depending on the constitution of the raw natural gas, the technology used to extract NGPLs at processing plants and the NGPL market prices and demand.