As American oil and natural gas production soared in 2018, consumption and exports of domestic energy reached record highs, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported this week.
According to the federal agency, U.S. energy production in 2018 increased 8% from the year prior:
“This increase in production outpaced the 4% increase in U.S. energy consumption, which also reached a record high of 101 quads. At the same time, U.S. energy exports increased 18% to a record high of 21 quads in 2018, reducing net energy imports into the United States to a 54-year low of 4 quads, or less than 4% of U.S. energy consumption.
… In 2018, crude oil and natural gas accounted for 57% of all U.S. energy production, with crude oil production seeing an increase of 17% and natural gas an increase of 12% from 2017.”
Natural gas plant liquids production (NGPL) also increased by 14%, reinforcing a March report which found that more than half of all production in 2017 took place in the Appalachian, Permian and Eagle Ford regions. The report also determined that the Appalachian region is responsible for the bulk of growth, as area production has increased over 1000% since 2012.
This trend of growing demand for clean, U.S. natural gas has continued in 2019 as domestic natural gas production set another record in February, soaring to 89.2 billion cubic feet per day. The average daily rate of dry natural gas production for the month was the highest for any month since the federal agency began tracking monthly dry natural gas production in 1973.
As a result, clean, affordable natural gas is projected to be the primary electricity generation source this summer, meeting 40 percent of electricity demand, according to EIA.
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