Ohio, Pennsylvania saw biggest natural gas production increases in 2016
Ohio and Pennsylvania each increased natural gas production by approximately 1.2 Billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2016, the largest annual natural gas production increases from 2015 to 2016 for any U.S. state, according to a recent report released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
These increases came about despite an overall decrease in U.S. natural gas production. Marketed natural gas production, which excludes natural gas used for repressuring the well, vented and flared gas and any nonhydrocarbon gases, fell from 79 Bcf/d in 2015 to 77 Bcf/d in 2016. Texas, the state with the highest natural gas production levels, decreased production by 2.5 Bcf/d.
The increases in Ohio and Pennsylvania were mostly a result of increased production from the Utica and Marcellus shale plays, which have made up 85 percent of U.S. shale gas production growth since 2012. Pennsylvania and Ohio’s share of total U.S. natural gas production has grown from under two percent in 2006 to 24 percent in 2016.
In 2013, Pennsylvania surpassed Louisiana to become the state with the second highest natural gas production behind Texas. Ohio became the seventh highest natural gas producing after surpassing West Virginia last year.
Louisiana, West Virginia, and North Dakota also increased their natural gas production in 2016. The increase in Louisiana was the state’s first annual increase since 2011, while West Virginia and North Dakota have seen annual for the past 13 and eight consecutive years respectively.
The EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook projects that natural gas production will increase in both 2017 and 2018 as natural gas prices rise.
