US EIA Report Shows How Winter Storms Have Reduced US Natural Gas Production, But Disruptions Can Happen Any Time Of The Year

On March 13, 2024, the US Energy Information Administration posted an article describing how winter storms disrupt US natural gas production.

Over the last four winters, winter storms Uri (February 2021), Elliott (December 2022), and most recently, Heather (January 2024) interrupted weekly U.S. natural gas production by more than 15 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), according to daily estimates from S&P Global Commodity Insights. 

These declines were the largest interruptions to U.S. natural gas production during the past four years. 

Although the impacts of these disruptions appear more muted over the course of a month, winter storms Uri and Elliott still drove declines in monthly average natural gas production of 3 Bcf/d to 7 Bcf/d.

Interruptions to natural gas production can occur at any time of the year in the United States and often vary in scale and impact. 

These interruptions can be caused by different factors, including inclement weather, maintenance events, or temporary oversupply conditions that cause a producer to reduce the volume of natural gas moving through a pipeline system. 

Severe weather that affects one or more of the major U.S. natural gas-producing regions, such as the Appalachia, Permian, and Haynesville regions, can cause noticeable levels of interruption on a national scale. 

These three regions combined accounted for 66% of U.S. natural gas production in 2023 and had accounted for 60% in 2022.

In the Northeast region, which includes Appalachian Basin production activity, reductions in natural gas production during Winter Storm Elliott in 2022 were much larger than the declines during winter storms Uri and Heather. 

Because below-freezing temperatures are more frequent in the Northeast, producers tend to install additional equipment to lessen the challenges of cold weather. 

However, temperatures fell below 0°F in many parts of the Northeast region during Winter Storm Elliott, reducing natural gas production volumes by over 6 Bcf/d. 

During the storm, temperatures in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, declined to as low as -5°F on December 23, 2022, a record low for that day.

Interruptions in natural gas production typically include various individual producer actions at wells, gathering systems, and transportation networks. 

Some producers temporarily and pre-emptively suspend production, often before adverse weather or maintenance work that is likely to reduce the natural gas takeaway capacity of a distribution system.

Other production interruptions are involuntary. Freeze-offs can occur when water or hydrates (crystals containing water and hydrocarbon molecules) in the natural gas stream freeze at a lower temperature or pressure, which creates blockages and disrupts the flow of natural gas from a well or through a natural gas transportation system.

Freeze-offs can also occur when:

-- Ice forms on equipment or on moving parts of the natural gas transportation system, which can block automated controls from functioning properly or cause valves or other equipment to freeze closed or open

-- Freezing temperatures cause power outages that prevent natural gas equipment from functioning properly

-- Snow or ice prevents worker access to key equipment rooms or production spaces that control production

Click Here to read the entire US EIA article.

[Note: Natural gas disruptions have a significant impact on electric power generation in Pennsylvania because as the Independent Fiscal Office reported in its latest Pennsylvania Electricity update the state’s electricity grid is dependent on one fuel for 59% of the state’s electricity generation--  natural gas-- followed by nuclear power-- 31.9%, coal-- 5.4% and 3.7% from other sources.  Read more here.]

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[Posted: March 13, 2024]  PA Environment Digest