US natural gas production reached record highs in 2018
U.S. natural gas production saw the largest annual increase on record in 2018, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Production grew by 10.0 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), an 11 percent increase from 2017, marking a record high for the second consecutive year.
U.S. natural gas production measured as gross withdrawals averaged 101.3 Bcf/d in 2018, which is the highest volume on record, according to EIA’s Monthly Crude Oil, Lease Condensate and Natural Gas Production Report. Production measured as marketed production and dry natural gas production also hit record highs of 89.6 Bcf/d and 83.4 Bcf/d, respectively.
U.S. gross withdrawals of natural gas increased every month during 2018 except for June, reaching a record monthly high of 107.8 Bcf/d in December 2018. Marketed natural gas production and dry natural gas production also reached monthly record highs of 95.0 Bcf/d and 88.6 Bcf/d, respectively, in December.
The volume of natural gas exports through pipelines and as liquefied natural gas (LNG) increased for the fourth consecutive year, reaching 9.9 Bcf/d, EIA said.
Total natural gas exports grew by 14 percent in 2018, and LNG exports increased by 53 percent to 3.0 Bcf/d. Pipeline and LNG exports both reached record monthly highs in December of 7.7 Bcf/d and 4.0 Bcf/d, respectively.
The United States again exported more natural gas than it imported in 2018, after doing so in 2017 for the first time in approximately 60 years. In September 2018, for the first time in nearly 20 years, the United States exported more natural gas by pipeline than it imported by pipeline. Forecasts in EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook suggest that natural gas exports by pipeline will surpass natural gas imports by pipeline in 2019 for the year.
The Appalachian region continued to be the largest natural gas-producing region in the United States in 2018. Gross withdrawals from the Marcellus and Utica/Point Pleasant shales of Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania increased from 24.2 Bcf/d in 2017 to 28.5 Bcf/d in 2018. Ohio had the largest percentage increase in gross withdrawals, expanding by 34 percent in 2018 to 6.5 Bcf/d.
