Shale gas became the largest source of natural gas production in the U.S. last year, says Energy Information Administration.
Shale gas - natural gas extracted by unconventional methods such as drilling deeper and fracturing the source rock to recover the gas contained inside - made a new record in the U.S and indicate that the country went through a 'shale revolution.'
The U.S.' total gross withdrawals hit 2.3 billion cubic meters (82 billion cubic feet) in 2013, according to data released from the Administration’s official website.
According to agency's report, 'Natural Gas Annual', gross withdrawals from shale gas wells increased from 5 billion cubic feet (150 million cubic meters) in 2007 to 33 billion cubic feet (900 million cubic meters) per day in 2013, surpassing production from non-shale natural gas wells.
Production from shale wells represents 40 percent of the total natural gas production, while other sources for gas production come from oil wells, coal bed wells and other type of gas wells, said the agency.
With the developed and relatively cheap technology lowering the drilling costs, the U.S. managed to boost its natural gas withdrawals. The production per day is seven times higher than 2007 data.
In 2013, shale gas production in the states of Texas, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and Arkansas totaled 26 billion cubic feet (780 million cubic meters) per day, which constituted 79 percent of the U.S.' total shale production, said the administration.
Currently there is no major export of natural gas from the U.S. Since natural gas production intensively increases year-by-year, exportation routes of U.S shale could be Europe and Asia-Pacific countries as a more profitable destination.
By Nihan Cabbaroglu and Ovunc Kutlu
Anadolu Agency