HOUSTON, June 11 (Xinhua) -- The natural gas production and export in the United States will continue to grow in the coming years, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report published Tuesday.

In its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), EIA forecast that U.S. dry natural gas production will average 90.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2019, up 7.2 Bcf/d from 2018. EIA expected natural gas production will continue to grow in 2020, albeit at a slower rate, averaging 91.8 Bcf/d next year.

According EIA, U.S. natural gas exports averaged 9.9 Bcf/d in 2018, and it forecast that they will rise by 2.5 Bcf/d in 2019 and by 2.9 Bcf/d in 2020. Rising exports reflect increases in liquefied natural gas exports as new facilities come online. Rising natural gas exports are also the result of an expected increase in pipeline exports to Mexico, said the organization.

EIA estimated that natural gas inventories ended March at 1.2 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), 15 percent lower than levels from a year earlier and 28 percent lower than the five-year (2014-18) average.