Production of crude oil and natural gas continues to grow in Permian Basin and Bakken while it declines in the other five major producing regions in the U.S., according to the drilling productivity report Jan. 21 from U.S. Department of Energy. Oil production in Permian is forecast to grow by 45,000 barrels per day in February to 4.803 million b/d from 4.758 million b/d in January. Total oil production in the seven regions is expected to grow by 22,000 b/d to 9.200 million b/d in February.
The report said gas production will be up in the seven regions in February by 65 million cubic feet per day to 85.985 billion cfd. Permian gas production in February will be 16.838 billion cfd – up 205 million cfd from January. Appalachia continues to lead in gas production with 33.346 billion cfd in February – down from 33.402 billion cfd in January.
The agency said the number of drilled but uncompleted wells in the seven regions declined again in December to 7,573 from 7,623 in November. Permian is the leader in DUC wells with 3,612 in December – up 14 from 3,598 in November. Eagle Ford is runner-up with 1,427 DUC wells.