EIA Reports Record October US Gas Production
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) on December 29 reported that dry natural gas production in the US averaged 75.1bn ft3/day in October, a 5.2% increase from October 2016 production and the highest for the month since the agency began tracking monthly production in 1973. Demand was estimated at 65.6bn ft³/day, the EIA said in its Natural Gas Monthly report, up 5.7% from October 2016.
In its monthly Crude Oil and Natural Gas Production report, also released on December 29, the EIA put gross gas withdrawals for October at 93.1bn ft3/day, an increase of 6.2% from year earlier production. Gross gas measures production before liquids are stripped from the gas stream.
Texas continued to lead the way for gross gas production in October, with output pegged at about 22.4bn ft3/day, up 3.8% year-over-year, while Appalachian shale gas production continued to surge: Pennsylvania production rose 5.6%, to nearly 14.5bn ft3/day, Ohio output jumped more than 33%, to 5.47bn ft3/day, and production from West Virginia rose nearly 23%, to 4.68bn ft3/day, the EIA said.
Demand in each of the four consuming sectors rose year-over-year, the EIA said, led by the residential sector at 8.6%, to 6.5bn ft3/day. Commercial deliveries were 4.7% higher, also at 6.5bn ft3/day; industrial demand was up 5%, to 21.1bn ft3/day; while power generation demand rose to 25.3bn ft3/day, an increase of 5.8% from October 2016.
Despite strong demand, natural gas spot prices in October remained stubbornly below the $3 barrier, averaging $2.88/’000 ft3. Through October, the gas spot price averaged $3/’000 ft3, up from the 10-month average the year before of $2.40/’000 ft3.
Total natural gas exports jumped more than 56% in October compared to a year earlier, the EIA said, to 8.9bn ft3/day from 5.7bn ft3/day, led by LNG exports, which at 2.6bn ft3/day were more than 25 times higher than in October 2016.