U.S. Natural Gas Production in June Fell Slightly From May: Platts' Bentek Energy
Production Averaged 72 Bcf/d in June, Down Less than 1% from May
DENVER, July 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Natural gas production in the lower 48 United States averaged 72 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in June, down about 0.6 Bcf/d from the May average, according to Bentek Energy®, an analytics and forecasting unit of Platts. On a month-over-month basis, June natural gas production was down less than 1% from May.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) will publish its domestic production estimates for April on or around July 31, 2015.
"The month-on-month U.S. production decline observed in June was largely attributed to continued maintenance events in the Northeast," said Sami Yahya, Bentek energy analyst. "The combination of reduced drilling and completion costs, as well as considerable efficiency gains in the field, has helped producers across most regions better cope with the distressed commodity prices."
According to Bentek's data analysis, the average cost of service companies is down about 20% since last year. Also down are drill times, which have declined, on average, by three to five days this year in multiple regions.
"This translates into the ability of producers to utilize less rigs but drill more wells," said Yahya. He pointed to the fact that some producers have indicated that in the past they tended to drill and complete a cluster of wells within an area and move on to the next cluster. But now, they say they are more likely to drill all of the clusters first and come back only later to complete those wells—saving money by not bringing completion rigs back and forth.
"This can also be viewed as completion deferment," Yahya noted. "It's also worth noting that high-grading - or focusing on higher initial production rate areas - remains the primary trend in most areas."
Bentek data analysis suggests 2015 U.S. natural gas production will average approximately 72.8 Bcf/d (which has recently been reduced from 73 Bcf/d due to persistent maintenance and outages), with growth occurring throughout the year, driven almost exclusively by continued production gains in the Northeast.
The Bentek data analysis is based on an extensive sample of near real-time production receipt data from the U.S. lower 48 interstate pipeline system. Platts' Bentek production models are highly correlated with and provide an advance glimpse of federal government statistics from the U.S. EIA.
This Bentek Energy U.S. natural gas production data estimate will be published every month covering the previous month's output activity. Bentek's dry gas production estimates are not observed data and are based on pipeline receipt nominations and certain state production data.
Bentek Energy, which specializes in energy market analytics and is recognized as the industry leader in natural gas market fundamental analysis was acquired by Platts in 2011. For more information about natural gas supply and demand fundamentals and Bentek Energy, visit www.bentekenergy.com. For more information about natural gas spot price trends, or Platts, a leading global energy, petrochemical and metals information provider, visit the website at www.platts.com.
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About Platts: Founded in 1909, Platts is a leading global provider of energy, petrochemicals, metals and agriculture information and a premier source of benchmark prices for the physical and futures markets. Platts' news, pricing, analytics, commentary and conferences help customers make better-informed trading and business decisions and help the markets operate with greater transparency and efficiency. Customers in more than 150 countries benefit from Platts' coverage of the biofuels, carbon emissions, coal, electricity, oil, natural gas, metals, nuclear power, petrochemical, shipping and sugar markets. A division of McGraw Hill Financial, Platts is based in London with more than 1000 employees in more than 15 offices worldwide. Additional information is available at http://www.platts.com.
About McGraw Hill Financial: McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI) is a leading financial intelligence company providing the global capital and commodity markets with independent benchmarks, credit ratings, portfolio and enterprise risk solutions, and analytics. The Company's iconic brands include: Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, S&P Capital IQ, S&P Dow Jones Indices, Platts, CRISIL and J.D. Power. The Company has approximately 17,000 employees in 30 countries. Additional information is available at www.mhfi.com.
SOURCE Platts
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