(Reuters) - The U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Monday that natural gas pipeline projects completed in 2024 increased the country's liquefied natural gas (LNG) takeaway capacity by 17.8 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd).

Takeaway capacity refers to the maximum amount of gas a pipeline can transport away from a production area or storage facility on a daily basis.

The U.S. produced a record 103.2 bcfd of gas and consumed a record 90.4 bcfd of the fuel in 2024, according to U.S. EIA data.

The EIA also noted that total pipeline capacity additions surpassed the previous year's additions for the second year in a row.

Projects completed in the "U.S. natural gas-producing Appalachia, Haynesville, Permian, and Eagle Ford regions ... increased takeaway capacity by approximately 6.5 bcfd (to) deliver natural gas from the producing regions to demand centers in the mid-Atlantic and along the U.S. Gulf Coast," the agency said in a note.

An additional "five pipeline projects completed last year in Texas and Louisiana increased capacity to deliver natural gas to LNG export terminals by approximately 8.5 bcfd." 

The agency also added that a handful of other relatively small interstate and intrastate pipeline projects added another almost 3.0 bcfd.

(Reporting by Ishaan Arora in Bengaluru; Editing by Paul Simao)