Demand for U.S. natural gas rises 5.5 percent in 2022, hitting new high

HOUSTON, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Demand for U.S. natural gas rose 5.5 percent in 2022 from the previous year, reaching a record high of 95.8 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), according to a report released on Wednesday.

The jump was led by stronger power sector consumption, rising liquified natural gas (LNG) exports, and more demand from commercial customers, said the 2023 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook, published by BloombergNEF (BNEF) and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE).

The country's LNG exports posted a 13.1-percent increase from the year prior to record highs, the annual factbook noted, saying that U.S. exports of natural gas have risen briskly over the past decade.

In 2022, natural gas met 39 percent of the U.S. power demand with a record estimated output of 1,694 megawatt-hour (MWh), up 6.5 percent from the year prior.

However, for the second year in a row, natural gas prices in the country rose significantly due to tight market conditions including rising demand for gas at home and abroad.

The average benchmark Henry Hub wholesale natural gas price for the year rose 52 percent while residential and commercial prices rose 11 percent and 19 percent, respectively.

Industrial users saw the biggest year-on-year change, with prices jumping 32 percent.

Despite higher gas prices, the fuel still provided more power, the data showed, adding that 2022 prices were still about half of those seen in 2005.

A hotter-than-normal summer and constraints on coal-fired power generation lifted use of natural gas in power in the country, and then a colder than normal weather in the second half of both November and December boosted overall consumption.

Two days before Christmas, the lower 48 U.S. states set a single day record for natural gas demand, said the factbook.