US Gas Reserves Up 5% in 2016
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said February 13 the country’s proved reserves of natural gas rose 5% in 2016, with nearly half of the additions coming from the Marcellus shale gas basin in Pennsylvania.
Total proved natural gas reserves at the end of 2016 stood at 341.1 trillion ft3, the EIA said, up from 324.3 trillion ft3 at the end of 2015. Extensions and discoveries, at 38.4 trillion ft3, more than offset production during the year of 29.2 trillion ft3.
Proved reserves of crude oil, the EIA said, were unchanged in 2016, at some 35.2bn barrels.
In Pennsylvania, development of the Marcellus shale basin added 6.1 trillion ft3 of new proved reserves, the largest addition of any state. Oklahoma added 3.7 trillion ft3 of new reserves, reflecting developments in the Anadarko basin, while the Utica shale play in Ohio contributed to that state’s 3.1 trillion ft3 of new reserves.
Shale gas reserves at the end of 2016, the EIA said, accounted for 62% of all US gas reserves, up from a 54% share in 2015.