Approximately 85 percent of shale-based natural gas produced since 2012 in the U.S. has come from the Marcellus and Utica sites, a recent Energy Information Agency (EIA) report said.
The two sites encompass Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and parts of Virginia. The EIA's Drilling Productivity Report (DPR) said average new-well gas production per rig in the Marcellus region was estimated at 3.2 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) in January 2012. In July 2015, output had increased to 8.3 MMcf/d. The EIA said this is in line with the correlation seen in overall natural gas production at the site. The Marcellus region produced approximately 16.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day (Bcf/d) in July 2015.
The report said the Utica region also saw significant growth in average new-well production between January 2012 and July 2015, growing from 0.31 MMcf/d to 6.9 MMcf/d.
Overall U.S. natural gas production has seen growth over the entirety of domestic production, which the EIA attributes to improvements in drilling and hydraulic fracturing, among other factors. Shale basins are reported to be producing approximately 56 percent of dry natural gas production. The Marcellus and Utica sites combined increased production by 12.6 Bcf/d between January 2012 and June 2015.
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