The US will drive growth in North America’s new-build underground gas storage industry between 2019 and 2023, contributing around 95% of the working gas capacity growth in the region, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The company’s report: ‘Underground Gas Storage Industry Outlook in North America to 2023 – Capacity and Capital Expenditure Forecasts with Details of All Operating and Planned Storage Sites’ reveals that North America’s underground gas storage industry is expected to add 20 planned and announced underground gas storage sites, with a total working capacity of 237.5 billion cubic feet (bcf) by 2023.

The US is expected to add around 224.5 bcf of underground gas storage capacity during the outlook period from 18 planned and announced underground gas storage sites.

Arpan Roychowdhury, Oil & Gas Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The underground gas storage industry in the US is primarily driven by growing production and consumption of natural gas. The booming shale gas production, coupled with increasing demand from industrial and power generation sectors is driving the underground gas storage industry growth in the country.”

GlobalData identifies Mexico as the second highest in North America in terms of new-build underground gas storage capacity. The country is expected to add 10 bcf of working gas capacity by 2023 from the announced Burgos storage site during the outlook period. Canada accounts for the remaining capacity growth, with 3 bcf of working gas capacity to be added from the announced Warwick II storage site.

The report also states that in terms of the storage capacity among the upcoming underground gas storage sites, MoBay Storage Hub and Magnum Gas Storage in the US leads with 50 bcf and 42 bcf respectively, by 2023.