US Fracking Nearly Doubles Production Of Methane, Ethane, Other Fuels - Energy Dept.

Output of US natural gas plant liquids has nearly doubled since 2012, a year when horizontal drilling and fracking became widely used techniques to extract both oil and gas from old wells and newly discovered deposits, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report on Friday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd March, 2019) Output of US natural gas plant liquids has nearly doubled since 2012, a year when horizontal drilling and fracking became widely used techniques to extract both oil and gas from old wells and newly discovered deposits, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report on Friday.

"Since 2012, when horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques became more common, US production of natural gas plant liquids (NGPL) has significantly increased, averaging 4.3 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2018, up from 2.

5 million b/d in 2012," the report said.

NGPL - not to be confused with liquefied natural gas (LNG) - consists of raw, or wet, natural gas with impurities such as hydrogen sulfide removed, the report explained. The remaining liquid is typically shipped by pipeline to fractionation centers, where distinct products such as methane, ethane and propane are isolated.

Fracking uses pressurized liquids to break up underground rock formations. The technology, combined with horizontal drilling, allows gas to be extracted from hard to reach underground deposits.