EIA shows U.S. gas production falls, consumption holds

U.S. natural gas prices by sector.

U.S. dry natural gas production fell in April when compared with production from a year earlier, according to a recent report from the Energy Information Administration.

Dry gas production was 92.5 Bcf/d, down 0.4 Bcf/d from a year ago, when dry production was 92.9 Bcf/d. The month of April marked the 12th consecutive month that dry gas production fell from the prior year.

Even as dry production fell, gross withdrawals reached 113.2 Bcf/d, up 0.7% from a year ago. This was the highest for the month since the EIA began tracking the data in 1980. Meanwhile, marketed production, which includes gross withdrawals less gas used for repressuring and flaring and non hydrocarbon gases removed in treating, reached 100.4 Bcf/d, up from 100.1 Bcf/d a year ago.

Total gas consumption in April was 74.8 Bcf/d, essentially flat when compared to a year ago. Total consumption was the third-highest for the month since the EIA began using the current definitions for each consuming sectors in 2001. When broken down by sector, consumption in residential and electic power sectors fell while commercial and industrial deliveries rose.

Net gas exports, which includes exports less imports were 11.7 Bcf/d in April, the highest for any month since the EIA began tracking imports and exports in 1973. The U.S. exported 2.7 times more natural gas than it imported in April.

LNG exports in April 2021 were up 46.2% from a year ago. In April, the U.S. exported 10.2 Bcf/d of LNG to 32 countries. Total exports were 18.7 Bcf/d, while total imports were 6.9 Bcf/d.