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U.S. natural gas plant liquids production hits record high last year

  HOUSTON, June 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. natural gas plant liquids (NGPL) production reached record high in 2017, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Tuesday.

  U.S. NGPL production nearly doubled since 2010, outpacing the rate of natural gas production growth and setting an annual record of 3.7 million barrels per day in 2017.

  NGPLs are produced at natural gas processing plants, which separate liquids from raw natural gas to produce pipeline-quality dry natural gas. Marketed natural gas includes both NGPLs and dry natural gas.

  Growth in U.S. natural gas production has been driven by shale gas and to a lesser extent by associated natural gas, a byproduct of crude oil production. The high liquids content of many shale plays means that growth in marketed natural gas production has led to increased production of NGPLs.

  NGPLs accounted for a growing share of marketed natural gas production between 2010 and 2017, making up 15 percent of total marketed production in 2017 in energy content terms, up from 11 percent in 2010.