The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects that the growth of shale output of natural gas and crude oil will continue in April, with gas output climbing for the 15th consecutive month to come in 19.8% above the same month a year earlier.

The latest installment of the "Drilling Productivity Report" published by the EIA on March 12 showed that total output of natural gas across seven key shale plays is likely to climb 1.5% in April versus the previous month to 66.12 Bcf/d.
That follows a 1.3% increase in March from the February level of 64.29 Bcf/d.

The EIA expects all seven of the shale formations it tracks to show increases versus the prior month in April, with the Appalachia increasing the most on a volume basis with a gain of 359.3 MMcf/d, followed by the Permian with an increase of 233.0 MMcf/d.
On a percentage basis, the Haynesville leads with a 2.4% increase, followed by the Permian with a gain of 2.3%.

The EIA projects shale production of crude oil will climb 1.9% from the prior month in April to 6.95 MMbbl/d, for year-over-year growth of 25.9%.

The government agency expects six of seven shale plays to experience oil production increases versus the prior month in April.
On a volume basis, the Permian leads all of the shale plays with an increase of 80.1 Mbbl/d, while the Eagle Ford trails second with a gain of 23.0 Mbbl/d.
On a percentage basis, production growth in the Permian leads at 2.6% and the Appalachia follows with an increase of 2.5%.

Versus last month's report, the EIA raised its March shale gas output estimate by 208.7 MMcf/d to 65.15 Bcf/d. At the same time, the government agency increased its March shale oil production estimate by 66.4 Mbbl/d versus last month to 6.82 MMbbl/d.



The number of drilled but uncompleted wells, or DUCs, climbed by 110 from the prior month to reach 7,601 in February, with DUC figures for January revised down by 118 to 7,491.
The Permian gained the most DUCs in February as it added 122 wells, followed by the Eagle Ford with an increase of 30 wells.


While shale resources and production are found in many parts of the U.S., the EIA's drilling productivity report focuses on the seven most prolific areas, which are in the Lower 48. These seven regions accounted for 92% of domestic oil production growth and all domestic natural gas production growth during 2011-2014, according to the EIA.
