The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) is seeking public comment on the proposed expansion of a natural gas and crude oil production survey.
Geographic shift
As a result of the rapid growth and shifting location of US natural gas and crude oil production, the 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 published on 6 May.
Natural gas data
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 US 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%.
Crude oil data
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 7 July 2014.
Edited by Katie Woodward