Relatively low prices of natural gas have contributed to steady increases in US industrial gas consumption since 2009, especially as a feedstock for chemical production. According to the US Energy Information Administration’s most recent Short-Term Energy Outlook, growth in US industrial demand will continue through 2015, with consumption averaging 21.3 bcfd in 2014 and 22.1 bcfd in 2015, a 4% increase, boosted by newly proposed chemical plants. Two methanol plants are set to begin service this year—a small facility in Pampa, Tex., and another in Geismar, La. A handful of fertilizer plants have begun service, and an expansion is planned at a plant near Beaumont, Tex., later this year. Continued growth in industrial demand is also supported by two large facilities coming online in 2015, a methanol plant in Clear Lake, Tex., and a fertilizer-urea plant in Wever. “Many plants are on the Gulf Coast, […]