Long-term trends in U.S. natural gas liquids consumption and supply. Gas research insights. December 1990

The characteristics of natural gas produced in the field differ substantially from the gas consumed in end-use markets. In the process of transforming the wide range of natural gas characteristics at the wellhead into a nominal characteristic at the burner tip, large volumes of liquid hydrocarbons, called natural gas liquids (NGLs), are produced. The separation of NGLs is both an operational cost to the production and delivery of natural gas and a source of revenue to gas producers and gas processors. The extent to which NGLs are extracted depends on the operational requirements of gas production and the gas transportation system as well as the economics of incremental NGL extraction for revenue. Trends in NGL production could have significant implications for the economics of natural gas production and transportation as well as for research directed at reducing operating costs. The paper assesses the long-term trends for NGL supply and consumption in the U.S. and the relation of NGL production to U.S. natural gas production