U.S. ethane production reached a record 3.0 million barrels per day in May 2024
U.S. Energy Information Administration
EIA provides energy statistics and analyses for sound policy making, efficient markets, and public education.
U.S. ethane production increased steadily over the last decade and reached a record of 3.0 million barrels per day in May 2024.
Ethane production in the first half of 2024 averaged a record 2.8 million barrels per day, according to data from our Petroleum Supply Monthly. The increase was driven by more natural gas and ethane production in the Permian Basin, which spans Texas and New Mexico.
Ethane serves mainly as a petrochemical feedstock to produce ethylene, which is used to make plastics and resins. Continued growth in ethane consumption in the global petrochemical sector, increasing proportions of ethane derived from U.S. natural gas production, and favorable production economics have driven steady increases in ethane production in recent years.
In the United States, almost all ethane is recovered at natural gas processing plants, which remove ethane and other natural gas plant liquids from raw natural gas. During the first half of 2024, U.S. marketed natural gas production, which includes dry natural gas and natural gas processing liquids before they are separated out, averaged a record 112.8 billion cubic feet per day, 1.0 billion cubic feet per day more than the first half of 2023 average.
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Energy Economist & Conference Speaker
4 个月When referring to "produced" ethane, the EIA is really referring to "recovered" Ethane. Actual produced Ethane is much higher but the difference is rejected (not recovered) at the gas plant and is left in the natural Gas stream to be burned as gas. Ethane is very much a demand-pull commodity, meaning that only the amount that is being demanded by the ethane crackers will be recovered based upon rejection economics at the gas plants but in reality, barring some sort of short term market discontinuity, Ethane recovery bounces around the demand number with inventories swinging the difference. The 23MMBbl increase in Ethane inventories between March and July was driven by a natural gas egress constraint out of the Permian. This drove non-economic ethane recovery as a way of alleviating some of the natural gas egress constraint - this was reflected in the price as it dropped to just above 10 cpg. As simple as that seems, it's actually quite complicated... How has this played out? what were the knock off effects? and what happens next? Subscribe to Wood Mackenzies NGL service @ woodmac.com to get the full story.
Project Manager di PT Bintang sukses energi
4 个月you need a job together, open to me,
Wells Engineer | All opinions are mine
4 个月hydraulic fracturing.
Product Development Manager at Honeywell UOP
4 个月How does this compare to recent headlines about decreases in natural gas production? Is there an overall comparison between methane and ethane production?
Principal at LS Consulting Houston
4 个月I think if you go back to 2008 and look at the starting point as gas production first rose it is even more impressive! Don't forget the large amount of ethane rejection that occurred during these times. Rejection was limited by local BTU levels so as not to disrupt nat gas consumers. All in all as we said at Wood Mackenzie back in 2011 that the US would become of of the largest, if not the largest producer of NGLs!