Washington, Greene lead Pa. October natural gas production
The Energy Information Administration said Friday Pennsylvania’s natural gas production reached a new high of 15 billion cubic feet per day in October, an increase of 25 percent from year-ago levels and an increase of 80 percent from January 2013.
The EIA noted currently Pennsylvania accounts for 19 percent of total U.S. natural gas production, largely from Appalachia’s Marcellus shale formation, 76 percent of which currently comes from Pennsylvania.
It also noted Washington and Greene counties contributed to the lion’s share of production in the Southwest corner of the state.
EIA said Pennsylvania is seeing an increase in permitting and drilling activity as new pipelines come online capable of moving natural gas to market centers outside of the region. The state Department of Environmental Protection issued 1,371 natural gas drilling permits in 2016, but so far in 2017 it has already issued 1,447 permits. During 2016, the daily rig count averaged 20 rigs in Pennsylvania. So far in 2017, the average daily rig count in Pennsylvania is 33 rigs, based on data from Baker Hughes.
Permitting and drilling activity in Pennsylvania is concentrated in a few counties with the state’s most productive wells. Washington and Greene counties are two of the three counties with the largest number of permits and rig counts. Susquehanna County in the northeast has the third-highest number of permits and rigs.
According to EIA, in 2016 and 2017, these three counties combined accounted for slightly more than half of the total permits and two-thirds of the rigs operating in Pennsylvania.
Pipeline projects are being developed close to Pennsylvania’s southwest and northeast regions to carry natural gas from these counties to demand centers.
Current pipeline projects include the 3.25 Bcf/d Rover Pipeline Project and the 1.5 Bcf/d Nexus Gas Transmission Project, both slated to begin operations during the first quarter of 2018.
Last year, completed projects include the Rockies Express Zone 3 expansion, which entered into service in January, to increase the capacity to move natural gas westward out of southwest Pennsylvania and the Algonquin Incremental Market pipeline, which entered into service in December 2016, primarily to move natural gas from northeastern Pennsylvania into New England.