Five US states account for 70% of US natural gas production

Five U.S. states produced more than 70% of the 113.1 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) of marketed natural gas in the United States in 2023, according to a report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Texas accounted for 28% of marketed natural gas production in 2023, according to the agency’s monthly natural gas report, followed by Pennsylvania (18%), Louisiana (10%), West Virginia (8%) and New Mexico (8%).

Despite slowing production in 2024, these five states continue to account for the bulk—73%—of marketed natural gas in the United States this year.

In 2023, total marketed natural gas production in Texas, which includes production from fields in the Gulf of Mexico, within U.S. territorial waters, was 31.6 billion cubic feet per day, an increase of 7% from 2022.

The Permian and Haynesville fields, which account for nearly 40% of U.S. dry natural gas production from shale gas fields, are located in Texas.

The Permian field area also extends into New Mexico, where production averaged 8.7 billion cubic feet per day in 2023, an increase of 18% from 2022.

Because most of the Permian field’s natural gas production is associated natural gas from oil wells, producers respond to changes in the price of crude oil, not the price of natural gas, when planning their exploration and production activities.

After adjusting for inflation, the average annual price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil was $102 per barrel in 2022 — the highest price since 2014 — before falling to $80 per barrel in 2023. As a result, marketed natural gas production in both Texas and New Mexico set new records in 2023.

Louisiana’s marketed natural gas production, which includes production from offshore fields in state waters, averaged 11.8 billion cubic feet per day in 2023, up 6% from 2022, and the highest natural gas production in Louisiana since 1996, despite lower natural gas prices.

Louisiana production comes mostly from the Hinesville area, located in both states (Louisiana and Texas)

The United States became the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2023, and producers in the Hinesville area continued to supply much of the natural gas used in LNG export facilities on the Gulf Coast.

In 2023, Pennsylvania’s natural gas production was on par with 2021’s record level of 20.9 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d), up 1% from 2022, and West Virginia’s production reached a record level of 8.9 bcf/d, up 11%.

Natural gas production from both states comes from the Appalachian Basin, which contains the Marcellus and Utica shale gas deposits and accounts for 32% of marketed natural gas production in the United States.

US marketed natural gas production growth slowed in 2024, mainly due to lower production from complex shale and formations

From January to August 2024, US marketed natural gas production averaged 113.0 Bcf/d, up 1% compared to the same period in 2023.

The Permian led the increase in 2024, supported by WTI crude oil prices averaging $80/bbl. Texas production increased 5% (1.5 Bcf/d), New Mexico production increased 12% (1.0 Bcf/d),

Growth in the Permian was offset by lower production in Louisiana, where production fell 15% (1.8 Bcf/d), and Pennsylvania, where production fell 2% (0.5 Bcf/d (daily)

Producers in the Hinesville and Appalachia regions cut production in 2024, faced with low prices at the Henry Hub gas export site, which averaged $2.09 per million British thermal units (1,000 cubic feet), through August 2024, and steady growth in demand from LNG export facilities.