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While oil and natural gas companies may be grappling with the effects of current commodity prices, Pennsylvania natural gas producers have proven to be astonishingly resilient, producing a record 4.6 trillion cubic feet of the fuel last year. Making this accomplishment even more impressive is that this rise in production – a total nearly five times what was produced in the state in 2011 – occurred despite fewer wells being drilled, according to the 2015 Oil and Gas Annual Report from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

According to the report, hydraulic fracturing (fracking) combined horizontal drilling techniques employed in the state’s shale plays – most notably, the Marcellus – are credited for the increase in natural gas production. As we’ve shown before, continued innovation in fracking and other techniques used in production have greatly increased domestic oil and natural gas production, even as fewer wells are being drilled. These innovations have improved production decline rates from wells, meaning fracked wells are lasting longer and producing more, as well as increased profitability for producers overall. In Pennsylvania specifically, fracking and horizontal drilling in shale plays has made the state one of the top suppliers of natural gas in the nation. As the report points out:

“Today, vast areas of black shale deposits in Pennsylvania are yielding tremendous amounts of natural gas. Pennsylvania is the second largest supplier of natural gas in the nation, second only to the state of Texas.”

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