Shale gas became the largest source of natural gas production in the U.S. last year, says Energy Information Administration.
Shale gas听- natural gas听extracted by听unconventional methods such as drilling deeper and fracturing the source rock to recover the gas contained inside听- made a new record in the U.S and indicate听that the country went through a "shale revolution."听
The U.S.' total听gross withdrawals hit 2.3 billion cubic meters (82 billion cubic feet) in 2013,听according to听data听released from the Administration鈥檚 official website.
According to agency's report, 'Natural Gas Annual', gross withdrawals from shale gas wells increased from 5 billion cubic feet (150 million cubic meters)听in 2007 to 33 billion cubic feet (900听million cubic meters) per day听in 2013, surpassing production from non-shale natural gas wells.
Production from shale wells represents听40 percent听of the total natural gas production, while other sources for gas production come from oil wells, coal bed wells听and other type of gas wells, said the agency.听
With the developed and relatively cheap technology lowering the drilling costs, the U.S. managed to boost its natural gas withdrawals. The production per day is seven times higher than 2007 data.
In 2013,听shale gas production in the听states of听Texas, Pennsylvania, Louisiana听and Arkansas totaled 26 billion cubic feet (780听million cubic meters) per day, which constituted听79 percent of the U.S.' total听shale production, said the administration.
Currently there is no major export of natural gas from the U.S. Since natural gas production intensively increases year-by-year, exportation routes of U.S shale could be听Europe听and Asia-Pacific countries as a more profitable destination. 听
By Nihan Cabbaroglu and Ovunc Kutlu
Anadolu Agency
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