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Natural Gas Liquids June 14, 2013 EIA’s Proposed Definitions for Natural Gas Liquids Term Current Definition Proposed Definition Note Lease Condensate (lease condensate): A Lease condensate: Light liquid Includes lease condensate natural gas liquid recovered from hydrocarbons recovered from lease condensate as part of associated and non associated gas separators or field facilities at associated the crude oil stream, wells from lease separators or field and non-associated natural gas wells. not an NGL. facilities, reported in barrels of 42 Mostly pentanes and heavier U.S. gallons at atmospheric pressure hydrocarbons. Normally enters the crude and 60 degrees Fahrenheit. oil stream after production. Plant Plant condensate: One of the Plant condensate: Liquid hydrocarbons Adds temperature condensate natural gas liquids, mostly pentanes recovered at inlet separators or and pressure. and heavier hydrocarbons, recovered scrubbers in natural gas processing plants and separated as liquids at gas inlet at atmospheric pressure and ambient separators or scrubbers in processing temperatures. Mostly pentanes and plants. heavier hydrocarbons, equivalent to pentanes plus. Natural gas Natural gas plant liquids: Those Natural gas plant liquids (NGPL): Those Identifies ethane plant liquids hydrocarbons in natural gas that are hydrocarbons in natural gas that are separate from the (NGPL) separated as liquids at natural gas separated as liquids at natural gas LPG and includes it in processing plants, fractionating and processing plants, fractionating and NGPL. Removes cycling plants, and in some instances, cycling plants. Products obtained include isopentane, since it is field facilities. Lease condensate is ethane, liquefied petroleum gases part of pentanes excluded. Products obtained include (propane and butanes), and pentanes plus. A supply liquefied petroleum gases (ethane, plus. Component products may be definition. propane, and butanes), pentanes fractionated or mixed. Lease condensate plus, and isopentane. Component is excluded. products may be fractionated or mixed. U.S. Energy Information Administration | EIA’s Proposed Definitions for Natural Gas Liquids 1 Term Current Definition Proposed Definition Note Field Field production: Represents crude Field production of crude oil: Represents NGPL production is Production oil production on leases, natural gas crude oil production on leases, including no longer considered liquids production at natural gas lease condensate. Excludes plant field production. processing plants, new supply of condensate and other processed liquids. other hydrocarbons/oxygenates and motor gasoline blending components, and fuel ethanol blended into finished motor gasoline. Pentanes plus Pentanes plus: A mixture of Pentanes plus: A mixture of liquid Explicitly includes hydrocarbons, mostly pentanes and hydrocarbons, mostly pentanes and natural gasoline. A heavier, extracted from natural gas. heavier, extracted from natural gas in a supply term. gas processing plant (i.e., plant condensate) or from crude oil in a refinery. Natural gasoline is the largest component of pentanes plus. Natural Natural gasoline: A term used in the Natural gasoline: A commodity product Defines natural gasoline gas processing industry to refer to a commonly traded in NGL markets, which gasoline as a subset mixture of liquid hydrocarbons comprises liquid hydrocarbons (mostly of pentanes plus. A (mostly pentanes and heavier pentanes and hexanes) that generally market term. hydrocarbons) extracted from natural remain liquid at ambient temperatures gas. It includes isopentane. and atmospheric pressure. A subset of pentanes plus. Extraction Extraction Loss: The reduction in See Natural Gas Plant Liquids (NGPL) Makes clear that Loss volume of natural gas due to the Production. losses are from NGPL removal of natural gas liquid production; includes constituents such as ethane, pentanes plus. propane, and butane at natural gas processing plants. Natural gas No definition Natural gas plant liquids (NGPL) New supply term for plant liquids Production: The reduction in volume of natural gas surveys. (NGPL) natural gas due to the removal of natural Production gas plant liquids constituents such as ethane, propane, butane, and pentanes plus. U.S. Energy Information Administration | EIA’s Proposed Definitions for Natural Gas Liquids 2 Term Current Definition Proposed Definition Note Liquefied Liquefied petroleum gases: A group Liquefied petroleum gases (LPG): A Removes ethane and petroleum of hydrocarbon-based gases derived group of hydrocarbon gases, primarily olefins. A market gases (LPG) from crude oil refining or natural gas propane, normal butane, and isobutane, term. fractionation. They include ethane, derived from crude oil refining or natural ethylene, propane, propylene, gas fractionation. These gases may be normal butane, butylene, isobutane, marketed individually or mixed. They can and isobutylene. For convenience of be liquefied through pressurization transportation, these gases are without refrigeration for convenience of liquefied through pressurization. transportation or storage. Liquefied Liquefied refinery gases Liquefied refinery gases (LRG): Adds the source of refinery gases (LRG): Liquefied petroleum gases Hydrocarbon gas liquids produced in LRG. A supply term. (LRG) fractionated from refinery or still refineries from processing of crude oil gases. Through compression and/or and unfinished oils. They are retained in refrigeration, they are retained in the the liquid state through compression liquid state. The reported categories and/or refrigeration. The reported are ethane/ethylene, categories include ethane, ethylene, propane/propylene, normal propane, propylene, normal butane, butane/butylene, and butylene, isobutane, and isobutylene. isobutane/isobutylene. Excludes still gas. Olefinic No definition Olefinic hydrocarbons (olefins): Adds definition for hydrocarbons Unsaturated hydrocarbon compounds olefins. (olefins) with the general formula CnH2n containing at least one carbon-to-carbon double- bond. Olefins are produced at crude oil refineries or petrochemical plants and are not naturally occurring constituents of oil and natural gas. Sometimes referred to as “alkenes” or “unsaturated hydrocarbons.” Excludes aromatics. Paraffinic Paraffinic hydrocarbons: Straight- Paraffinic hydrocarbons (paraffins): Adds paraffins to the hydrocarbons chain hydrocarbon compounds with Saturated hydrocarbon compounds with NGL definition. (paraffins) the general formula CnH2n+2. the general formula CnH2n+2 containing Makes parallel to only single-bonds. Sometimes referred proposed olefins to as alkanes or natural gas liquids. definition. U.S. Energy Information Administration | EIA’s Proposed Definitions for Natural Gas Liquids 3 Term Current Definition Proposed Definition Note Natural gas Natural Gas Liquids (NGL): Those Natural gas liquids (NGL): A group of Removes lease liquids (NGL) hydrocarbons in natural gas that are hydrocarbons including ethane, propane, condensate and the separated from the gas as liquids normal butane, isobutane, and pentanes olefins. A market through the process of absorption, plus. Generally include natural gas plant term. condensation, adsorption, cooling in liquids, and all liquefied refinery gases, gas separators, gas processing, or gas except olefins. cycling plants. Generally, natural gas liquids include natural gas plant liquids and lease condensate. Hydrocarbon No definition Hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGL): A group Establishes new gas liquids of hydrocarbons including ethane, definition to (HGL) propane, butane, isobutane, and equivalent to NGPL + pentanes plus, and their associated LRG on the supply olefins, ethylene, propylene, butylene, side and NGL + and isobutylene. Equivalent to sum of olefins on the market natural gas plant liquids and liquefied side. refinery gases on the supply side, and the sum of natural gas liquids and olefins on the market side. Includes propane and normal butane produced at gas-to-liquids plants. Excludes liquefied natural gas (LNG). Refinery gas Refinery gas: Non condensate gas Refinery gas: Still gas consumed as Clarify term relative collected in petroleum refineries. refinery fuel. to still gas. Still gas Still gas (refinery gas): Any form or Still gas: Any form or mixture of gases Identifies use and mixture of gases produced in produced in refineries by distillation, clarifies composition. refineries by distillation, cracking, cracking, reforming, and other processes. reforming, and other processes. The The principal constituents are methane principal constituents are methane, and ethane. May contain hydrogen and ethane, ethylene, normal butane, small/trace amounts of ethylene, butylene, propane, propylene, etc. propane, propylene, normal butane, Still gas issued as a refinery fuel and a butylene, isobutane, and isobutylene. petrochemical feedstock. The Still gas is typically consumed as refinery conversion factor is 6 million BTU's fuel or used as petrochemical feedstock. per fuel oil equivalent barrel. U.S. Energy Information Administration | EIA’s Proposed Definitions for Natural Gas Liquids 4 Term Current Definition Proposed Definition Note Gas plant Gas plant operator: Any firm, Gas plant operator: Any firm, including a Separates gas plant operator including a gas plant owner, which natural gas processing plant owner that definition from gas operates a gas plant and keeps the operates a gas plant and keeps the gas plant operator. gas plant records. A gas plant is a plant records. facility in which natural gas liquids are separated from natural gas or in which natural gas liquids are fractionated or otherwise separated into natural gas liquid products or both. U.S. Energy Information Administration | EIA’s Proposed Definitions for Natural Gas Liquids 5 .
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