The Natural Gas Supply Association predicts U.S. gas supplies will be adequate this winter at normal demand volumes.
NGSA also reported the gas supply surplus is slowly but surely diminishing. It said gas wellhead capacity utilization increased on an annual and peak month basis in 1989, and the higher utilization rate indicates that the gas supply surplus is shrinking.
The survey found capacity utilization increased to 82.3% in 1989 from 81% in 1988.
The NGSA survey of 41 producing companies showed their productive capacity rose to 32-821 bcfd from 32.02 bcfd during 1989, while deliveries rose to 27.022 bcfd from 25.939 bcfd. Another 2.344 bcfd was waiting for hookup to pipelines.
Nicholas Bush, NGSA president, said the survey showed that even the record cold of last December did not drive Lower 48 natural gas production to its maximum level.
He said, "Despite historically cold weather that froze up many wells in the Gulf of Mexico last December, the industry was able to deliver natural gas to consumers. Gas production and storage drawdowns plus the many short pipelines hooking pipeline system to pipeline system, which were built under expedited Federal Energy Regulatory Commission procedures for pipeline construction, deserve the credit for that.
"it would appear that at long last the gas 'bubble,' that was to last only 6 months when it developed 8 years ago, is sluggishly going away. What this means for all segments of the natural gas industry, from producers to consumers, is that new sources of domestic natural gas supplies are going to have to be sought and developed."
Bush also said it makes no sense for Congress or state governments to block Outer Continental Shelf exploration for new supplies of gas.
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