1972

Domestic natural gas demand next year will surpass the 22 Tcfmark for the first time since 1972, the Independent PetroleumAssociation of America (IPAA) forecasts. The higher anticipateddemand, which the producer group pegged at 22.56 Tcf, will bespurred by growth in the industrial and residential sectors, withdemand for the former expected to be up 2.5% to 9.14 Tcf and demandfor the latter up by 2.1% to 5 Tcf. The IPAA anticipates a similar2.1% growth for the commercial sector to 3.3 Tcf, but demand byelectric utilities – where the gas industry is pinning much of itshopes for the future – is likely to tumble by 1% to 3.18 Tcf nextyear. It forecasts about another 1.94 Tcf will be consumed as leaseand plant fuel and pipeline fuel. Demand will outstrip domesticsupply of dry natural gas, which is predicted to increase by 1% to18.94 Tcf next year. The majority of the U.S. gas production willbe in the Gulf of Mexico, the group said. Gas imports will accountfor about 3.94 Tcf, up 5.7% from 2000. For oil and natural gasliquids (NGLs), the IPAA estimated domestic production willincrease slightly to 7.83 million barrels per day, while importswill hit 11.30 million b/d. U.S. consumption of oil and NGLs willrise by 1.3% to 19.87 million b/d.