The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Monday released its December report on drilling productivity in seven key oil and gas producing regions of the U.S. Overall oil production is projected to remain essentially flat in January at 4.542 million barrels per day, just 2,000 barrels a day above December production. Total production in December is forecast to reach 4.54 million barrels a day, an increase of 56,000 barrels a day compared with last month’s forecast.
In November the number of drilled but uncompleted (DUC) wells rose by 64 to a total of 5,219. The largest gain came in the Permian Basin with 95 new DUC wells.
The largest decline is forecast for the Eagle Ford play in South Texas where production is expected to slip by 23,000 barrels a day in January. Production in the Bakken play in North Dakota and Montana is expected to drop by 13,000 barrels a day and Niobrara production is pegged to rise by 3,000 barrels a day. Production from the Permian Basin is forecast to rise by 37,000 barrels a day and the output from the Haynesville is forecast to remain flat while the Marcellus shale is expected to add 1,000 barrels a day. The Utica shale play is expected to slip by 3,000 barrels a day.
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Natural gas production is expected to rise by 88 million cubic feet per day with Eagle Ford production down the most (163 million cubic feet per day). Production in the Marcellus play is expected to rise by 160 million cubic feet in December. Utica shale gas production is forecast to remain flat.
WTI crude oil for January delivery closed Friday at $51.50 a barrel, and traded up nearly 2% late Monday afternoon at $52.54 after rising to a new 52-week high of $54.51 earlier in the day.
Natural gas for December delivery traded down about 6% at $3.52, down 22 cents from Friday’s closing price.
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