The Industry Make Up of Natural Gas

Industry Makeup

An excellent source for statistics and information on the natural gas industry and its various sectors is the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA was created in 1977 as the statistical arm of the Department of Energy, charged with developing energy data and analyses that help to enhance the understanding of the energy industry. For a good overview of relevant updated statistics related to the natural gas industry, view the EIA’s summary statistics on natural gas.

Below are some statistics on the makeup of the natural gas industry in the United States. Follow the links to view the most up to date information on each sector:

• Producers – There are over 6,300 producers of natural gas in the United States. These companies range from large integrated producers with worldwide operations and interests in all segments of the oil and gas industry, to small one or two person operations that may only have partial interest in a single well. The largest integrated production companies are termed ‘Majors’, of which 21+ are active in the United States. Information on the production of natural gas is available on EIA’s website.

• Processing – There are over 530 natural gas processing plants in the United States, which were responsible for processing almost 15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and extracting over 630 million barrels of natural gas liquids in 2006. For more information on natural gas processing, visit the Gas Processors Association.

• Pipelines – There are about 160 pipeline companies in the United States, operating over 300,000 miles of pipe. Of this, approxiamtely 180,000 miles are interstate pipelines. This natural gas pipeline infrastructure is capable of transporting over 148 Billion cubic feet (Bcf) of gas per day from producing regions to consuming regions. To see a list of major pipeline companies, including links to their websites, visit the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

• Storage – There are about 123 natural gas storage operators in the United States, which control approximately 400 underground storage facilities. These facilities have a storage capacity of 4,059 Bcf of natural gas, and an average daily deliverability of 85 Bcf per day. The EIA maintains a weekly storage survey, monitoring the injection and withdrawal of stored natural gas. This survey gives a good indication of the status of the natural gas market, measuring the natural gas that is extracted or stored at any one time in response to the demand for natural gas. Learn more about statistics and information related to natural gas storage in the United States.

• Local Distribution Companies – There are about 1,200 natural gas distribution companies in the U.S., with ownership of over 1.2 million miles of distribution pipeTo learn about the status of distribution restructuring across the United States visit the EIA. To learn more about natural gas distribution companies and their regulatory structure, visit the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. The American Gas Association is also an excellent source for information on LDCs.

• Marketing – The status of the natural gas marketing segment of the industry is constantly changing, as companies enter and exit from the industry quite frequently. As of 2000, there were over 260 companies involved in the marketing of natural gas. In this same year, about 80 percent of all the natural gas supplied and consumed in North America passed through the hands of natural gas marketers. The volume of non-physical natural gas that passes through the hands of marketers is very large, and can be much greater than the actual physical volume consumed. This is an indication of vibrant, transparent commodity markets for natural gas. (For example, in 1998, it is estimated that for every thousand cubic feet of natural gas consumed, about 2.7 thousand cubic feet passed through natural gas marketers. For more information on natural gas and energy marketers, visit the National Energy Marketers Association.

Posted by: C.Keddy
(source: Energy Information Administration (EIA).

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Posted by admin on June 23rd, 2009. Filed under Natural Gas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry