For the first time since the shale gas revolution began, natural gas production from shale formations in the U.S. will decline next month, according to the Energy Information Administration.
The federal government predicted Wednesday that gas production in the country’s largest shale formations will decrease in September to 44.9 billion cubic feet per day. That’s a drop of 1.5 percent below a peak of 45.6 billion cubic feet per day in May.
The Utica Shale in Ohio is the only major shale region expected to see an increase in natural gas production.
The reason for the overall dip is a decline in drilling rigs in gas-rich areas like the Marcellus Shale.
That means production from new wells will not be able to keep up with declining rates of gas production from older wells, which have been in production for the past few years.
Read more of this report at the website of our partner StateImpact Pennsylvania.
