The record-setting natural gas production in the United States is benefiting not only consumers. The shale-growth-driven natural gas output is expected to bring benefits to the petrochemical industry as well, as manufacturers will continue to enjoy low-cost feedstock for plants in and close to areas where shale gas and natural gas plant liquids (NGPL) production is abundant, industry officials and analysts say. U.S. dry natural gas production will set a new record this year, averaging 81.1 Bcf/d, and will continue to rise in 2019, the EIA said in its April Short-Term Energy Outlook . In the Annual Energy Outlook 2018 (AEO2018), the EIA forecasts that U.S. dry natural gas production will increase through 2050 across a wide variety of alternative assumptions about the future. In the Reference case, which assumes current regulations and laws, U.S. natural gas production is expected to grow by 59 percent between 2017 and 2050, […]