U.S. natural gas production was 2.32 Tcf in February, down from 2.38 Tcf in February 2012, and both marketed production (1.95 Tcf, compared with 1.99 Tcf) and dry gas production (1.85 Tcf, compared with 1.89 Tcf) were down from the year-ago period, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest Monthly Energy Review (MER).

It was the second consecutive month that domestic natural gas production declined compared to the previous year. U.S. production was 2.55 Tcf in January, compared with 2.57 Tcf in January 2012, EIA said. But the long-term trend has been upward. In its MER for March, EIA reported that production totaled 29.77 Tcf in 2012, the seventh consecutive year-over-year increase (see Daily GPI, April 1).

EIA reported 133 Bcf of natural gas exports in February, up from 130 Bcf in February 2012, and imports were 240 Bcf, down significantly from 270 Bcf in the year-ago period.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently gave conditional authorization for the export of up to 1.4 Bcf/d of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Freeport LNG Terminal on Quintana Island, TX, to non-free trade agreement (FTA) countries (see Daily GPI, May 20). It was the second export license to non-FTA countries to be granted by DOE. The department granted the first authorization to export LNG to non-FTA countries in May 2011 for the Sabine Pass LNG Terminal in Cameron Parish, LA, for an amount up to 2.2 Bcf/d (see Daily GPI, May 23, 2011).

Sempra Energy CEO Debra Reed believes DOE’s approval of the Freeport application is a mandate for LNG exports (see Daily GPI, May 28). “It sets up the framework for long-term approval of exports, and we think that is very, very positive,” Reed said at an investor conference in New York City last week.

Domestic consumption of natural gas was on the rise in February, reaching 2.56 Tcf, compared with 2.50 Tcf in February 2012, EIA said.

Fossil fuels accounted for 78% of the nation’s primary energy production, while renewable energy accounted for 11% and nuclear electric power accounted for 10%, EIA said.

EIA recently said the federal government’s budget sequestration would force it to suspend publication of its Annual Energy Review (AER) and its companion publication, Energy Perspectives (see Daily GPI, April 29). The publications, which were to have come out later this year, were to have included data compiled during 2012. EIA said it would expand its MER to incorporate annual data as far back as 1949 for data series from about 70 key tables that are currently included in both AER and MER. The expanded monthly publication will combine historical data usually published in the AER with up-to-date data from the MER. In the latest MER, EIA incorporated data for years prior to 1973 into sections covering energy prices and renewable energy.

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