Natural Gas Facts

Natural gas has many uses

• It meets 23 percent of U.S. energy requirements.
• It heats 57 percent of U.S. households.
• It accounts for more than 90 percent of new electricity capacity built in last 5 years.
• It cools homes and provides fuel for cooking.
• It provides the energy source or raw material to make a wide range of products, such as plastics , steel, glass, synthetic fabrics, fertilizer, aspirin, automobiles and processed food.

The demand for natural gas is growing

• It is the nation's fastest-growing energy source, with demand forecast to increase by about 22 percent between now and 2030 (EIA Annual Energy outlook 2006), including a more than 62 percent increase for electric power generation (EIA Annual Energy outlook 2006).
• Americans used 21.9 trillion cubic feet in 2005.
• Natural gas supplies about 62 million residential customers and 5 million commercial and industrial customers.
• Natural gas powers nearly 130,000 buses, taxis, delivery trucks and other natural gas-powered vehicles.
• Most natural gas used in the United States comes from North America.

Supply

• The United States produced 18.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in 2005.
• U.S. production has been essentially flat for 20 years; increased imports fill the gap.

Future resources

• Recent estimates by Minerals Management Service and U.S. Geologic Survey for future undiscovered natural gas resources range as high as 1042 Tcf, enough to last more than 47 years at current production rates.
• Federal lands contain about 60 percent of the nation's estimated undiscovered natural gas.
• There are 209 Tcf of technically recoverable natural gas in the Rockies alone - enough to power more than 50 million homes for 60 years.
• The Rockies' share of the lower-48 production will grow from 23 percent in 2003 to 28 percent in 2030.
• Government policy restricting access and development have placed substantial, new natural gas supplies "off limits" - approximately 200 Tcf, or enough natural gas to heat more than 100 million homes for 30 years. Lawsuits block development of even more.