Data released by the Energy Information Administration showed a 1.2 billion cubic feet per day increase in natural gas production in Pennsylvania and Ohio between 2015 and 2016, which represents the largest jump in natural gas production among U.S. states.
Louisiana recorded a 0.2 billion cubic feet per day increase, followed by West Virginia (0.1 billion cubic feet per day increase) and North Dakota (0.1 billion cubic feet per day).
Texas, the largest natural gas producing state in the nation, saw a 2.5 billion cubic feet per day drop in production as it and every other state saw prices decline sharply over the past two years.
Natural gas production in the remaining United States was also down 1.7 billion cubic feet per day.
Overall, production dropped from a record 79 billion cubic feet per day recorded nationwide in 2015 to 77 billion cubic feet per day in 2016. It was the first drop in national natural gas production since 2005, which coincides with the massive rise of Appalachian natural gas, in particular the Marcellus and Utica shales in Pennsylvania.
Eighty-five percent of the increase in production of natural gas in the entire United States came from the Marcellus and Utica shales.
In other news, the Energy Department approved Golden Pass Products, a Texas-based energy company, to export liquefied natural gas to countries with which the United States does not have free-trade agreements.
Golden Pass Products will build an LNG export terminal capable of shipping 2.21 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas around the world. It’s the first LNG export terminal approved by the Trump administration, adding to the already 19.2 billion cubic feet per day of exports approved by the Obama administration.