Record US NGL production in 2017 stemmed from ethane growth - EIA

US production of natural gas liquids (NGL) has almost doubled since 2010, setting an annual record of 3.7m bbl/day in 2017, driven primarily by ethane production growth, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Tuesday. The EIA expects ethane production to increase by another 440,000 bbl/day between Q1 2018 and Q4 2019, according to EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), which should make up 86% of the growth in NGL production. The EIA cited shale gas production mostly from the Appalachian region as one of the primary drivers of growth in natural gas production. Associated natural gas, a byproduct of crude oil production, was also cited.