US natural gas storage capacity essentially unchanged in 2020
US natural gas working storage capacity was essentially unchanged in 2020 compared to 2019, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). EIA measures natural gas working storage capacity in two ways: design capacity and demonstrated peak capacity. Design capacity increased 0.1% and demonstrated peak capacity decreased 0.2%, according to EIA’s Underground Natural Gas Working Storage Capacity report. EIA’s data shows that underground natural gas working storage capacity in the Lower 48 states has remained relatively flat since 2012.
EIA calculated design capacity in its latest estimate as the total working natural gas capacity for all active facilities in the Lower 48 states as of November 2020. Design capacity is an engineering estimate based on the physical characteristics of the reservoir, installed equipment, and operating procedures at the site, which often must be certified by federal or state regulators. Design capacity increased by 4 bcf in 2020. Increases in design capacity during 2020 occurred primarily in the South-Central region, where working natural gas design capacity increased by 5 bcf.
EIA calculated demonstrated peak capacity as the total of the highest storage levels reached by each storage facility during any month during the most recent 5-year period (December 2015–November 2020). Demonstrated peak capacity reflects how storage facilities were actually used rather than how they were designed. Overall, demonstrated peak capacity in 2020 declined by 8 bcf compared with 2019, despite reported increases in five of the six regions in the Lower 48 states.
Demonstrated peak capacity declined by 34 bcf in the Pacific region because previous peak levels—predating the 2015 leak at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility in California—are no longer included in the 5-year range. Aliso Canyon field has operated at reduced levels since coming back online following the leak. Despite the decline in demonstrated peak capacity for the region, natural gas storage facilities in the Pacific region had increased use during 2020 compared with 2019.
