Five states drove record U.S. natural gas production in 2023

This article was published by the US Energy Information Administration on Dec. 10, 2024.

By Trinity Manning-Pickett

Five states produced more than 70 per cent of the record 113.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of U.S. marketed natural gas production in 2023. Texas accounted for 28 per cent of U.S. marketed natural gas production in 2023, according to our Natural Gas Monthly, followed by Pennsylvania (18 per cent), Louisiana (10 per cent), West Virginia (8 per cent), and New Mexico (8 per cent). Even though production slowed in 2024, output from these five states continued to make up most—73 per cent—of marketed U.S. natural gas this year.

In 2023, marketed natural gas production in Texas, which includes offshore output from fields in state waters, totalled 31.6 Bcf/d, a 7 per cent increase from 2022. The Permian and Haynesville plays, which combined account for nearly 40 per cent of U.S. dry natural gas production from shale gas plays, are in Texas.

The Permian region also extends into New Mexico, where production averaged 8.7 Bcf/d in 2023, an increase of 18 per cent compared with 2022. Because most Permian production of natural gas is associated natural gas from oil wells, producers respond to changes in the crude oil price rather than the natural gas price when planning their exploration and production activities. Adjusted for inflation, the annual West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil spot price averaged $102 per barrel (b) in 2022—the highest price since 2014—before moderating to $80/b in 2023. As a result, marketed natural gas production in both Texas and New Mexico established new records in 2023.

Marketed natural gas production in Louisiana, which includes offshore output from state waters, averaged 11.8 Bcf/d in 2023, an increase of 6 per cent from 2022 and the most natural gas produced in Louisiana since 1996, despite low natural gas prices. Production in Louisiana mostly comes from the Haynesville region, located in both Louisiana and Texas. The United States became the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter in 2023, and producers in the Haynesville play continued to supply much of the natural gas used by Gulf Coast LNG export facilities.

In 2023, natural gas production in Pennsylvania matched the 2021 record of 20.9 Bcf/d, a 1 per cent increase over 2022, and West Virginia production reached a record 8.9 Bcf/d, an increase of 11 per cent. Natural gas production from both states comes from the Appalachian Basin, which contains the Marcellus and Utica shale gas plays, and accounted for 32 per cent of U.S. marketed natural gas production.

Growth in U.S. marketed natural gas production has slowed in 2024, due mainly to reduced output from shale and tight formations. From January through August 2024, U.S. production of marketed natural gas averaged 113.0 Bcf/d, a 1 per cent increase compared with the same period in 2023. The Permian region drove the increase in 2024, supported by WTI crude oil prices that averaged $80/b. Production in Texas increased 5 per cent (1.5 Bcf/d), and output in New Mexico increased 12 per cent (1.0 Bcf/d). Less production in Louisiana, where output decreased 15 per cent (1.8 Bcf/d), and Pennsylvania, where output decreased 2 per cent (0.5 Bcf/d), offset growth in the Permian region. Producers in the Haynesville and Appalachia regions curtailed production in 2024 when faced with record-low Henry Hub prices, which averaged $2.09 per million British thermal units through August 2024, and flat growth in demand from LNG export facilities.