Natural Gas Output From Eastern US Shale Sets Record In First Half Of 2021 - Energy Dept.

Natural gas production from the Appalachian Basin in the Eastern United States hit a record level for the first six months of 2021, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report on Wednesday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st September, 2021) Natural gas production from the Appalachian Basin in the Eastern United States hit a record level for the first six months of 2021, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report on Wednesday.

"Production in the region reached 32.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in December 2020, and it averaged 31.9 Bcf/d during the first half of 2021, the highest average for a six-month period since production began in 2008," the report said.

The Appalachian Basin spanning the US states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio contains two shale formations, Marcellus and Utica, which accounted for 34 percent of all US dry natural gas production in the first half of 2021, the report said.

On its own, the Basin would have been the third-largest natural gas producer in the world the first half of 2021, behind Russia and the rest of the United States, the report said.

Record-high dry natural gas production in the first half of 2021 was made possible by growth in pipeline takeaway capacity that allows natural gas produced in the Appalachian Basin to reach other markets, especially in the US Midwest, the report added.

From 2008 to 2020, total pipeline takeaway capacity from the Northeast increased from 4.5 Bcf/d to 24.5 Bcf/d, according to the report.