EIA: Eastern states to drive growth of natural gas, LNG Image By EPN Staff Liquified Natural Gas exports out of Gulf Coast facilities are driving natural gas demand growth in the United States, but more of the gas ultimately exported will likely come from eastern states, according to a recent Energy Information Administration analysis. The bottom line: Gas from the Eastern Appalachian Basin in mid-Atlantic states and the Ohio region is cheaper and easier to get to, the EIA said. Access is also less dependent on the crude oil drilling in and around Texas responsible for most of that region’s natural gas production, the administration said. Why it matters American LNG exports are expected to more than double over the next 15 years, according to the EIA, driving price and demand. “We project natural gas converted to LNG for export will increase to 9.8 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), or almost 27 billion cubic feet per day, in 2037,” the administration said in a rundown of its latest Annual Energy Outlook report. That’s assuming five new LNG export projects already under construction go into service by 2028, which would account for nearly 60% of the expected growth, the EIA said. Nearly all existing U.S. LNG export capacity is on the U.S. Gulf Coast, and all the new capacity cataloged in the EIA’s latest report depends on facilities in Texas and Louisiana. But much of the actual gas will come from the Appalachian Basin which “contains the most abundant and economical-to-access natural gas resources in the United States” and “will increasingly meet growing demand on the Gulf Coast in the South Central region,” the administration said. “Resources in the East are more economical to produce even when including the costs to transport natural gas to consumers in Texas and Louisiana on the Gulf Coast” the EIA said in its analysis. That “encourages infrastructure builds, such as pipelines, that facilitate increased natural gas flows out of the East and to the Gulf Coast,” the EIA said. The bigger picture Natural gas production from the Gulf Coast region - traditionally some of the country's highest - is actually projected to decrease over the next several decades, the administration said. There are several reasons: Gas from the Permian Basin is “largely a byproduct of crude oil drilling,” the EIA said, and crude oil production is expected to decline. The Haynesville formation, which runs from Arkansas through Louisiana and into Texas, is much deeper than other natural gas formations, making it more expensive to drill. Offshore Gulf projects also tend to be more expensive to drill. President Donald Trump’s administration is pushing hard to boost domestic gas production, LNG exports and overall fossil fuel usage to power artificial intelligence and other needs that are driving rapid growth in energy demand. “President Trump is leveraging every tool of government to boost natural gas production and LNG exports,” Harrison Fields, a White House spokesperson, recently said. “This stands as a major priority and success for President Trump, as we’ve already witnessed significant demand and interest from our trading partners for more American LNG.” The United States has some of the world's largest natural gas reserves, but infrastructure is needed to move it in higher volumes. A recent report questioned the impacts that steel and other tariffs will have on that construction, and on overall energy prices.
