At 32.2 trillion cubic feet in 2020, natural gas consumption will account for 28 percent of total domestic energy consumption, compared to 24 percent in 1996. Gas consumption is expected to increase at 1.6 percent annually from 1996 through 2020, mainly because of growth in gas-fired electricity generation. Gas production increases at an annual rate of 1.5 percent over the forecast, rising from 19 Tcf in 1996 to 27 Tcf in 2020. Growing production reflects rising wellhead prices, relatively abundant natural gas resources, and improvements in technologies, particularly for offshore and unconventional gas. Net imports are expected to climb from 2.8 Tcf in 1996 to 4.9 Tcf in 2020.
Imports continue to be dominated by pipeline imports from Canada over the forecast.
Gas consumption in the industrial sector, which includes cogenerators, increases by 1.2 Tcf over the forecast. Combined, by 2020, the residential and commercial sectors add 1.2 trillion cubic feet from 1996. The big story in natural gas consumption is in electricity generation. Gas consumption by electric generators, not including industrial cogenerators, more than triples during the forecast, from 3 trillion cubic feet in 1996 to 9.9 trillion cubic feet in 2020. In 1996 electricity generators are the fourth-largest natural gas consuming sector.