Analysis
NAICS 211130 is the 2022 national industry for natural gas extraction, part of 21113 (Natural Gas Extraction). Census lists 35 example activities under it in the official index.
County Business Patterns counts 1,342 US establishments in this code in 2023, employing 27,601 people at an average annual payroll of $173,184 per employee (99th percentile of national industries). 50% of the establishments have fewer than five employees, which is close to the national mix.
Between 2018 and 2023 the number of establishments grew 20% and employment rose 3%. The 2018 count used NAICS 2017, so part of a large move can come from codes being redefined rather than from businesses opening or closing.
Census lists 5 related activities that belong elsewhere, most often in 21311, 2111, 325110 and 324110. Businesses that do several things are classified by their primary activity, the one that generates the most value, so check those boundaries before settling on this code.
Its index entries, the activities Census uses to assign businesses to this code, include butane, natural, mining, casing-head butane and propane production, coal gasification at mine site and coal liquefaction at mine site, among 35 in all.
Its goods appear in 14 statistical lines of the US tariff schedule, mostly under headings 2711 (petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons) and 2709 (). That link is how import data is matched to domestic producers, for example in trade-remedy cases.
Official definition
This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in (1) the exploration, development, and/or the production of natural gas from wells in which the hydrocarbons will initially flow or can be produced using normal or enhanced drilling and extraction techniques or (2) the recovery of liquid hydrocarbons from oil and gas field gases. Establishments primarily engaged in sulfur recovery from natural gas are included in this industry.
Source: US Census Bureau, NAICS 2022 Manual.
Not this code if…
| The business mainly does | Use instead |
|---|---|
| Performing gas field services for operators on a contract or fee basis | 21311 Support Activities for Mining |
| The combined activities of crude petroleum and natural gas extraction | 2111 Oil and Gas Extraction, based on the primary activity of the establishment |
| Manufacturing acyclic and cyclic hydrocarbons from refined petroleum or converting refined petroleum into liquid hydrocarbons (i.e., petrochemicals) | 325110 Petrochemical Manufacturing |
| Refining crude petroleum into refined petroleum and liquid hydrocarbons | 324110 Petroleum Refineries |
| Recovering helium from natural gas | 325120 Industrial Gas Manufacturing |
Index entries (35)
- Butane, natural, mining
- Casing-head butane and propane production
- Coal gasification at mine site
- Coal liquefaction at mine site
- Coal pyrolysis
- Condensate, cycle, natural gas production
- Cycle condensate production
- Ethane recovered from oil and gas field gases
- Fractionating natural gas liquids
- Gas field development for own account
- Gas field exploration for own account
- Gas, natural liquefied petroleum, extraction
- Gas, natural, extraction
- Gas, natural, liquids, extraction
- Gas, residue, extraction
- Gases, petroleum, liquefied, extraction
- Gasoline, natural, production
- Isobutane recovered from oil and gas field gases
- Isopentane recovered from oil and gas field gases
- Liquefied petroleum gases (LPG), natural
- Liquid hydrocarbons recovered from oil and gas field gases
- Liquids, natural gas (e.g., ethane, isobutane, natural gasoline, propane) recovered from oil and gas field gases
- Natural gas liquid lease condensate production
- Natural gas liquids (e.g., ethane, isobutane, natural gasoline, propane) recovered from oil and gas field gases
- Natural gas production
- Natural gas, offshore production
- Natural gasoline recovered from oil and gas field gases
- Offshore natural gas production
- Oil line drip, natural gas liquid
- Operating natural gas liquid field gathering lines, except on a contract basis
- Petroleum gases, liquefied, recovering from oil and gas field gases
- Propane recovered from oil and gas field gases
- Residue gas production
- Stripper gas well production
- Sulfur recovered from natural gas