As a result of the rapid growth and shifting location of U.S. natural gas and crude oil production, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is proposing expanding the geographic coverage of its current monthly natural gas production survey and adding collection of state-level data on crude oil and lease condensate production.
EIA is soliciting comments on the proposed changes in a Federal Register Notice.
The current survey, the EIA-914 Monthly Natural Gas Production Report, collects natural gas production data from a sample of 240 well operators in five states and the federal offshore Gulf of Mexico that represent, as of December 2013, 66% of total U.S. gross gas production, down from 82% in 2007 when the survey began. Natural gas production has increased dramatically in some of the states outside the current EIA-914 survey—for example, Pennsylvania and Colorado, both of which now out-produce two of the original EIA-914 areas, New Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico. The proposed collection of state-level data from an additional 14 states would raise the sample coverage for natural gas production to 92%.
EIA is also proposing to collect crude oil and lease condensate production data for the same 19 states and the federal offshore Gulf of Mexico. EIA currently publishes state-level crude oil production data based on information reported to state oil and gas agencies. Where state data are not immediately available, EIA estimates the production. Long lags in state-level reporting have made it difficult to estimate oil production. Collecting data directly from well operators should provide more timely, consistent, routine, and accurate production data. In addition, with the rapid rise in production from tight formations, identifying shifts in the qualities of crude oil and lease condensate production has become increasingly important. Collecting information on the API gravity of crude oil and lease condensate, and possibly the sulfur content, will provide a clearer picture of those shifts.
Comments on the proposed changes are due to EIA by July 7, 2014.
Please send comments to Mr. Neal Davis, Office of Oil, Gas, and Coal Supply Statistics, Energy Information Administration. To ensure receipt of the comments by the due date, submission by e-mail ([email protected] ) is recommended. The mailing address is Mr. Neal Davis, Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave., SW, EI–24, Washington, DC 20585. Also, Mr. Davis may be contacted by telephone at 202-586-6581 or by fax at 202-287-1938.