Natural Gas - Domestic Natural Gas Consumption

Nationally, natural gas consumption rose from 1949 through 1973, then declined through 1986. Since 1986 natural gas consumption has been generally rising, hitting an all-time high of 23.3 trillion cubic feet in 2000, then declining to 21.9 trillion cubic feet by 2003. (See Table 3.2.) In 2003, 32% of the natural gas was used by industry, 23% by residences, 22% by electric utilities, and 14% by commercial customers; 3% was used as pipeline fuel in the gas transporting process.

Natural gas fills an important part of the country's energy needs. It is an attractive fuel not only because its price is relatively low but also because it is clean and efficient and can help the country meet both its environmental goals and its energy needs.

The residential sector used 5.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in 2003. (See Table 3.2.) Energy consumption by residences depends heavily on weather-related home-heating demands. Conservation practices and efficiency of gas appliances such as water heaters and stoves also affect residential consumption patterns. The U.S. Census Bureau reported in its American Community Survey that 57% of all residential energy consumers in the United States used gas to heat their homes in 2003.

The use of natural gas in the commercial sector was 3.1 trillion cubic feet in 2003. (See Table 3.2.) Like residential consumption, use in the commercial sector depends heavily on seasonal requirements, as well as the

TABLE 3.1

Crude oil and natural gas field counts, cumulative production, proved reserves, and proved ultimate recovery, 1977–2002
			Crude oil and lease condensate (billion barrels)				Natural gas1 (trillion cubic feet)
Year	Cumulative number of fields with crude oil and/or natural gas	Cumulative number of fields with crude oil	Cumulative production	Proved reserves	Proved ultimate recovery	Cumulative number of fields with natural gas	Cumulative production	Proved reserves	Proved ultimate recovery
1Wet, after separation of lease condensate.
2There is a discontinuity in this time series between 1997 and 1998 due to the absence of updates for a subset of the data used in the past.
R = Revised.
NA = Not available.
Notes: Data are at end of year. See "Proved Reserves, Crude Oil," "Proved Reserves, Lease Condensate," "Proved Reserves, Natural Gas," and "Proved Reserves, Natural Gas Liquids" in Glossary.
Web Pages: See http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/info_glance/petroleum.html and http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/natural_gas/info_glance/natural_gas.html for related information.
SOURCE: "Table 4.2. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Field Counts, Cumulative Production, Proved Reserves, and Proved Ultimate Recovery, 1977–2002," in Annual Energy Review 2003, U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Office of Energy Markets and End Use, September 7, 2004, http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/pdf/aer.pdf (accessed September 28, 2004)
1977	31,360	27,835	121.4	33.6	155.0	23,883	558.3	209.5	767.8
1978	32,430	28,683	124.6	33.1	157.6	24,786	578.4	210.1	788.5
1979	33,644	29,671	127.7	31.2	158.9	25,823	599.1	208.3	807.4
1980	34,999	30,766	130.8	31.3	162.2	26,919	619.4	206.3	825.6
1981	36,621	32,111	133.9	31.0	165.0	28,213	639.4	209.4	848.9
1982	38,123	33,375	137.1	29.5	166.6	29,375	658.1	209.3	867.4
1983	39,489	34,495	140.3	29.3	169.6	30,419	675.1	209.0	884.1
1984	41,038	35,784	143.5	30.0	173.5	31,595	693.5	206.0	899.5
1985	42,317	36,849	146.8	29.9	176.7	32,595	710.9	202.2	913.1
1986	43,076	37,464	150.0	28.3	178.3	33,151	727.8	201.1	928.9
1987	43,742	37,982	153.0	28.7	181.7	33,657	745.4	196.4	941.8
1988	44,414	38,506	156.0	28.2	184.2	34,196	763.4	177.0	940.4
1989	44,883	38,858	158.8	27.9	186.7	34,579	781.7	175.4	957.1
1990	45,385	39,244	161.5	27.6	189.0	34,975	800.4	177.6	978.0
1991	45,776	39,558	164.2	25.9	190.1	35,254	819.1	175.3	994.4
1992	46,149	39,843	166.8	25.0	191.8	35,539	838.0	173.3	1,011.3
1993	46,513	40,124	169.3	24.1	193.4	35,798	857.2	170.5	1,027.7
1994	46,922	40,417	171.7	23.6	195.3	36,142	877.1	171.9	1,049.1
1995	47,296	40,694	174.1	23.5	197.7	36,433	896.9	173.5	1,070.4
1996	47,557	40,875	176.5	23.3	199.8	36,612	917.0	175.1	1,092.1
1997	47,854	40,977	178.9	23.9	202.8	36,830	937.1	175.7	1,112.8
1998	247,664	235,143	181.2	22.4	203.5	232,458	957.0	172.4	1,129.4
1999	NA	NA	183.3	23.2	206.5	NA	976.8	176.2	1,153.0
2000	NA	NA	185.4	23.5	208.9	NA	997.0	186.5	1,183.5
2001	NA	NA	187.5	R23.9	R211.4	NA	1,016.7	183.5	1,200.2
2002	NA	NA	189.6	24.0	213.6	NA	1,036.9	195.6	1,232.5

number of users and conservation measures taken by commercial establishments.

The industrial sector has historically been the largest consumer of natural gas. Consumption in this sector in 2003 was 8.1 trillion cubic feet, down from 8.6 trillion cubic feet in 2002. The all-time high of 10.2 trillion cubic feet occurred in 1973. (See Table 3.2.) After 1973 natural gas consumption declined through 1986, steadily increased through 2000, and then declined somewhat through 2003. Substitution of natural gas for petroleum for some industrial purposes caused much of the increase in natural gas consumption from 1986 through 2000.