Natural Gas Price Collapse Has Shale Drillers Hitting the Brakes

Natural Gas Price Collapse Has Shale Drillers Hitting the Brakes

Bloomberg, 23-Jan-19

By Naureen S. Malik

As U.S. natural gas prices plummet to 1990s-era lows, production is finally showing signs of a slowdown after years of runaway growth.

Output from the lower 48 states has dropped to the lowest level since September, data from BloombergNEF show. While production usually slips in January as frigid weather disrupts drilling, weak prices are driving the decline this time around, according to BNEF analyst Tai Liu.

Explorers have been completing fewer wells in Appalachia and in Louisiana’s Haynesville shale since the second quarter of 2019, data from BloombergNEF and the U.S. Energy Information Administration show. The pullback means output is poised to fall even further, Liu said.