US Industry Metrics

A. Blume, Editor

Strong natural gas production, along with rapidly rising demand, resulted in record-high NGL production of 4.7 MMbpd in February 2019. Growth in NGL production, was led by ethane, which also set a new production record of nearly 130,000 bpd higher than in January 2019. The US Energy Information Administration estimates that domestic demand for ethane expanded by 360,000 bpd in the past 2 yr as a result of new ethylene crackers and expansions of existing facilities. Since 2017, four new ethylene plants have entered service. Four new crackers and one major cracker expansion are expected to come online in 2019, representing 260,000 bpd of additional ethane demand. Furthermore, ethane exports are expected to increase. GP

US gas production (Bft3d) and prices ($/Mcf)

 

US natural gas spot prices at Henry Hub and NGL spot prices at Mont Belvieu, $/MMBtu

 

US natural gas plant field production of NGL, LPG, ethane and propane, Mbpd