The U.S.' natural gas production broke a new high record in 2018, the country's Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a statement on Thursday.
Dry natural gas production in the U.S. reached a record high for the second consecutive year in 2018 with 83.4 billion cubic feet (2.36 billion cubic meters) per day on average, the EIA said. Natural gas production in the country marked the largest annual increase in gas production on record in the country in 2018 rising by 10 billion cubic feet (283 million cubic meters) per day, an 11 percent increase from 2017, according to the EIA.
Natural gas gross withdrawals in the U.S. increased every month in 2018 except in June, the EIA said, adding that it reached a monthly record high of 107.8 billion cubic feet (3.05 billion cubic meters) per day in December last year.
Marketed natural gas production and dry natural gas production also hit monthly record highs during the same month, reaching 95 billion cubic feet (2.69 billion cubic meters) and 88.6 billion cubic feet (2.51 billion cubic meters), respectively, according to the EIA.
-Total gas exports grow by 14 percent
The administration said as natural gas production increased in the U.S., the volume of gas exports from the country, both through pipelines and as liquefied natural gas (LNG), increased for the fourth consecutive year. The total volume of natural gas exports from the U.S. climbed 14 percent from the year before and reached 9.9 billion cubic feet (280 million cubic meters) per day in 2018.
LNG exports from the country grew by 53 percent year-over-year to 3 billion cubic feet (85 million cubic meters) per day last year. Both pipeline and LNG exports also reached record monthly highs in December 2018, marking 7.7 billion cubic feet (218 million cubic meters) per day and 4 billion cubic feet (113 million cubic meters) per day, respectively.
"The U.S. continued to export more natural gas than it imported in 2018, after being a net exporter in 2017 for the first time in nearly 60 years," the EIA said in the statement.
(Anadolu Agency)
