Natural Gas Gets Boost From Industry

Industrial users of natural gas, which include manufacturers of methanol and ammonia- or urea-based fertilizer, will continue to drive growth in natural gas demand through the end of 2016, says the U.S. Energy Information Administration. EIA, the independent agency that provides statistics and analysis for the federal government, estimates that industrial natural gas consumption is expected to reach an annual average of 21.7 billion cubic feet (bcf) per day by the end of 2015. This is expected to increase by another 3.9% in 2016. Industrial users of natural gas consumed an average of 21.0 bcf/day in 2014, an increase of 24% from 2009. “Reversing a decline that lasted more than a decade, industrial natural gas consumption has grown steadily since 2009 as relatively low natural gas prices have supported use of natural gas as a feedstock for the production of bulk chemicals,” EIA says. Several U.S. industrial facilities that depend on natural gas came on-line this year, and more are expected through 2018, the agency says.