One-third of U.S. natural gas production comes from Appalachia and it is pushing total output to record highs amid growing demand, the federal government said today.
Between 2020 and 2021, total natural gas production increased 3.5%, with Pennsylvania and Texas accounting for the lion’s share.
“U.S. production in the largest resource basins has been increasing,” the Department of Energy researchers wrote, noting that the Appalachian Basin “now accounts for nearly one-third of all U.S. dry natural gas production.”
Appalachia’s natural gas producers are stepping up to the demand challenge – both here and abroad – but hurdles remain without the proper infrastructure to connect our abundant supply with high demand areas like neighboring New England.
“It’s rather astounding that we’re talking about the years 2022 and into 2023 in one of the world’s most advanced economies and worrying about the availability of energy,” Marcellus Shale Coalition president David Callahan told Pipeline & Gas Journal, “when several hundred miles away vast amounts of energy are being developed, and it’s just waiting to be delivered.”
Being so close to America’s largest resource basin for natural gas found across Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, the fact New Englanders are importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from foreign countries is a direct result of putting politics before energy pragmatism.
“What it takes is government policy to allow infrastructure to reach New England, to ensure that consumers are paying reasonable rates and that they have availability of supply for their homes and businesses – not just for natural gas, but for power generation as well,” Callahan continued.
