EIA to make gas data revisions: report

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Energy Department is preparing to make large revisions to its U.S. natural-gas production data, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

The department found it has been overstating output, the paper said.

The monthly gas-production data, known as the 914 report, is used by the industry and analysts for a number of reasons such as making capital investments and predicting future natural-gas prices and stock recommendations, the paper said.

However, the Energy Information Administration, the statistical unit of the Energy Department, has uncovered a fundamental problem in the way it collects the data, the paper said.

The data does not reflect swings in production from hundreds of smaller producers, the paper said, and the EIA plans to change its methodology this month, which will result in "significant" downward revisions in some areas, the paper said. It cited Gary Long, the acting director of the 914 form, who led the review.

The Wall Street Journal report follows a review of the EIA's flagship weekly oil inventory report that also found errors in the data.

The Energy Department and the EIA could not immediately be reached for comment.

(Editing by Michael Urquhart)