US natural gas production continues rapid increase
According to the most recent report of the U.S. Energy Information, the Utica Shale and the Marcellus Shale continue to show a drastic rise in natural gas production.
The Utica Shale more than doubled in natural gas production over the last year, and nearly tripled, holding the distinction of largest percentage increase. The Utica Shale is currently ranked sixth nationally in monthly natural gas production and is expected to move into fifth nationally in July. The Utica Shale is further projected to climb into the fourth spot nationally by the end of 2015 or early 2016. The Utica Shale experienced the second overall largest production growth with 2.45 Bcf per day in April 2015, up 1.59 Bcf/day from April 2014.
This Utica Shale increase was surpassed only by the Marcellus Shale, which experienced an incredible 15.24 Bcf per day increase in April 2015 vs. 12.51 Bcf per day in April 2014, up 2.74 Bcf/day.
The diagram below, which excludes the Marcellus Shale in order to show relative scale among the other top natural gas producers by rank, illustrates the dramatic natural gas production increase from the Utica Shale.
(data from eia.gov, retrieved May 14, 2015)
