Natural Gas - Transmission Of Natural Gas

A vast network of natural gas pipelines crisscrosses the United States, connecting every state except Alaska, Hawaii, and Vermont. (Vermont receives its gas directly from Canada and is not connected to the U.S. pipeline.)

FIGURE 3.7

The natural gas in this quarter-million-mile system generally flows northeastward, primarily from Texas and Louisiana, the two major gas-producing states, and to a lesser extent from Oklahoma and New Mexico. (See Figure 3.9.) It also flows west to California.

Imports enter the United States via pipeline from Canada in Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Washington, and Vermont. It also enters via pipeline in Texas from Mexico. According to Natural Gas Annual 2002, published by the EIA in 2004, these pipeline imports made up 94% of total U.S. imports of natural gas in 2002. The remainder is shipped to the United States from Algeria, Australia, Indonesia, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Trinidad, and the United Arab Emirates as liquefied natural gas.

The largest users of natural gas in the residential sector in 2002 were, from highest to lowest, Texas, California, Louisiana, New York, and Illinois.