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Propelled by Chesapeake, Wyoming County surges up Pa. gas leaderboard

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Propelled by Chesapeake, Wyoming County surges up Pa. gas leaderboard

Despite having little pipeline capacity to get natural gas to market, the northeast region of Pennsylvania continues to lead the state in gas production, according to the latest data from the state's Department of Environmental Protection.

Susquehanna and Bradford counties — 3.9 Bcf/d and 2 Bcf/d, respectively, in December 2017 — are not newcomers to the gas production leaderboard, but Wyoming County, just to the south of Susquehanna, erupted with a 38% increase in gas output compared to December 2016.

Wyoming's spot on the list is almost entirely due to Chesapeake Energy Corp. and its "Rambo frack" tactics. Chesapeake's production in the county jumped 73% year over year, to 822 MMcf/d, in December 2017 as the Oklahoma producer experimented with ever bigger proppant loads in hydraulic fracturing. Chesapeake operates almost half of the 255 active unconventional wells in the county.

Chesapeake has begun fracking wells with 3,000 pounds of sand per foot or more in northeast Pennsylvania and in July announced a 61.8-MMcf/d well, the McGavin 6H in Wyoming County. The McGavin well "has produced 4.3 Bcf of gas in its first 90 days, with an average daily gross production rate of 48 MMcf of gas per day," Chesapeake CEO Doug Lawler told analysts on the company's third-quarter earnings call Nov. 2, 2017. "This is an incredible well, which will pay out in roughly nine months, and it provides a glimpse of things still to come from this world-class resource."

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The three northeast counties now produce 43.5%, nearly 7 Bcf/d, of Pennsylvania's 16 Bcf/d of gas production.

The other big production pickup in the state was in liquids-rich Washington County south of Pittsburgh. Washington increased gas production 33% year over year, to 3.2 Bcf/d.

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Following its merger with neighbor Rice Energy Inc., EQT Corp. became the state's largest gas producer, with nearly 3 Bcf/d of production, a 22% increase over the year prior. While EQT has made bullish noises about extending its reach in Greene County to the south of Washington, Washington County saw the most permits pulled in Pennsylvania in January. Production in Greene County increased only 1% between December 2017 and December 2016.

The top five counties account for 74% of statewide production, which grew by 11% year over year.