(Reuters) - The U.S.Energy Information Administration raised its estimate on Tuesday for U.S. natural gas production in 2014 to 4.1 per cent above 2013's record high levels.

In its July Short-Term Energy Outlook, the EIA said it expects marketed natural gas production in 2014 to rise by 2.90 bcf per day from 2013 to 73.08 bcf per day. That is up a bit from last month's forecast of a four per cent increase this year and would mark the fourth straight annual record high.

EIA also forecast that gas consumption in 2014 will rise by 1.04 bcf a day, or 1.5 per cent, from 2013 to 72.37 bcf a day, led by use by the industrial sector. That is down a bit from last month's forecast of a 2.2 per cent increase.

EIA projected that gas inventories will reach 3.43 tcf at the end of October, 0.38 tcf below the level of the same time last year. That is up a bit from the end-of-season forecast of 3.42 tcf that EIA made last month.