EIA Projects Gulf of Mexico Gas Improvement
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said November 26 it expects to see the decades-long decline in Gulf of Mexico natural gas production slow or even reverse this year and next, as 18 new fields are set to start producing.
Natural gas production in the Gulf – mostly associated with oil production – has been falling steadily for more than 20 years, to about 2.6bn ft3/day through August 2018 from 14.3bn ft3/day in 1997. That year, the Gulf of Mexico accounted for 26% of total US marketed natural gas; through August this year, the share was just 4%.
Declining production, the EIA said in its Today in Energy report, reflected a steady decline in the number of producing natural gas wells in the Gulf, to 875 in 2017 from 3,271 in 2001.
“The technology and expertise required to produce oil and natural gas from the seabed is expensive and specialized, and costs of production platforms can often exceed $1bn,” the EIA said. “With the growth in exploration and production activities in shale gas and tight oil formations, onshore drilling became more economic relative to offshore drilling.”
But 10 new natural gas fields are expected to start producing this year, with another eight expected in 2019, the EIA said, quoting US Department of Interior estimates. Together, the 18 fields represent a natural gas resource estimated at 836bn ft3.