US NatGas Production Hit New All-Time High in December Led by M-U

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is reporting U.S. dry natural gas production in the Lower 48 states reached an all-time monthly high of 105.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in December 2023. In 2023, Lower 48 dry natural gas production increased 3.7% (3.6 Bcf/d) from 2022. Dry natural gas production increased 3.8 Bcf/d…

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Fitch Solutions’ BMI Predicts Big Increase Coming in Henry Hub Price

BMI, a Fitch Solutions company, recently provided a price forecast for the Henry Hub gas price all the way out to 2028. BMI’s forecast is much rosier than others we’ve read. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently predicted the Henry Hub price will average under $3/MMBtu in both 2024 and 2025. BMI, on the…

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EIA Jan DPR: Big Production Drop Continues in M-U, Haynesville

The latest monthly U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Drilling Productivity Report (DPR) for January, issued yesterday (below), shows EIA believes shale gas production across the seven major plays tracked in the monthly DPR for February will *decrease* production from the prior month of January. This is the seventh month in a row that EIA has…

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Baker Hughes U.S. Rig Count Loses 2 @ 619, M-U Even @ 40

The Baker Hughes rig count lost ground again last week, as it has in four of the last five weeks. The count went from 621 active rigs two weeks ago to 619 last week. The Marcellus/Utica count was steady at 40 active rigs; however, the mix changed. Pennsylvania kept 19 active rigs as in previous…

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EIA Expects Henry Hub to Average Under $3/MMBtu in 2024 and 2025

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) published a post yesterday on the agency’s newly revamped Today in Energy website to announce it expects the Henry Hub natural gas spot price to average under $3.00/MMBtu in 2024 and 2025. What joyous news (not). The post explains the reasoning and thinking of EIA analysts and why they…

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EIA Says NatGas Production Growth Slows in 2024/25, HH $2.70/MMBtu

Once a month, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) analysts issue the agency’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), their best guess about where energy prices and production will go in the next 12 months. The EIA issued the January STEO yesterday. Among its latest predictions is that the growth rate for natural gas production will slow this…

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Baker Hughes U.S. Rig Count Loses 1 @ 621, M-U Even @ 40

The Baker Hughes rig count lost ground again last week, as it has in three of the last four weeks. The count went from 622 active rigs two weeks ago down to 621 last week. The Marcellus/Utica count was steady at 40 active rigs, broken down as 19 active rigs in Pennsylvania, 12 in Ohio,…

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U.S. Henry Hub Natural Gas Prices in 2023 Lowest Since Mid-2020

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is out with official numbers for 2023 concerning the price of natural gas traded at the benchmark Henry Hub in southern Louisiana. The Henry Hub natural gas price averaged $2.57 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in 2023, about a 62% drop from the 2022 average annual price. Bear…

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Baker Hughes U.S. Rig Count Loses 3 @ 620, M-U Drops 1 @ 40

The venerable Baker Hughes U.S. rig count turned in its totals a day early this week. Likely because workers were heading for the exits early (we can’t blame them). The overall rig count lost ground again last week, as it has for the past couple of weeks. The count went from 623 active rigs last…

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Morningstar Natural Gas Price Outlook 2024: Recovery Coming

DBRS Morningstar is a leading provider of independent rating services and opinions for corporate and sovereign entities, financial institutions, and structured finance instruments globally. Rating more than 4,000 issuers and 60,000 securities, DBRS Morningstar is the fourth-largest credit rating agency in the world and a market leader in Canada, the U.S. and Europe in multiple…

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Negotiating Better O&G Contracts: Tips from 60K PA Shale Leases

This is one of those little gems we delight in unearthing for MDN readers — especially for our landowner/rights owner readers. Researchers from the University of Rochester and the University of Pittsburgh assembled a dataset of lease deals used in the Pennsylvania Marcellus (some 60,000 of them!) and analyzed the leases for compensation and clauses…

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S&P Global Commodity Insights 2024 Energy Outlook & Predictions

S&P Global Commodity Insights, one of the biggest and best in the energy information business, issued its annual Energy Outlook for 2024 yesterday. It’s an interesting read. S&P analysts say “uneven balances and OPEC+ resolve to remain key risks to markets,” and “coal, gasoline entering peak demand years.” Yep, the mighty S&P has bought into…

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EIA Slashes Henry Hub Estimate to Avg $2.80 This Winter – Dec. STEO

Once a month, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) analysts issue the agency’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), their best guess about where energy prices and production will go in the next 12 months. Last month, the report predicted the price for Henry Hub natural gas futures would average $3.40 this winter (see EIA Predicts Henry Hub…

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U.S. Begins Winter with Most NatGas in Storage Since 2020

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the best number crunchers in the business, working natural gas in storage in the Lower 48 United States ended the natural gas injection season at 3,776 billion cubic feet (Bcf). The Lower 48 entered the winter heating season, which runs from November 1–March 30, with the most…

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