W.Virginia Set Gas Record In 2018

West Virginia natural gas and oil production reached record levels in 2018, the 10th straight year of output increases, according to data from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

According to the DEP’s Office of Oil and Natural Gas, production of natural gas last year rose to 1.8 Tcf  from 1.5 Tcf in 2017, a year-over-year increase of 17%.

“To put this monumental volume of gas production into context, the average West Virginia household consumes about 72 Mcf (thousand cubic feet) of natural gas per year,” said Anne Blankenship, executive director of the West Virginia Oil & Natural Gas Association.  “We produce enough gas in one day to meet the needs of all West Virginians.”

“One of the primary reasons West Virginia is enjoying an historic budget surplus is because of the prolific rise in natural gas and oil production. Rising production results in higher severance and property tax receipts which help fund critical services like education, road improvements, and health care, while also creating more jobs for West Virginians.”

Blankenship noted that Doddridge County was the state’s most prolific natural gas producer at 434 Bcf. Production increased 53 Bcf over 2017 levels, growing by 14% year-over-year.

In Tyler County production grew by 59% to 272 Bcf, making it the state’s second largest gas producing county. Coming in third, Ritchie County saw production increase 26%, rising from 158 Bcf to 200 Bcf in the span of one year.

Rounding out the top ten natural gas producing counties were: Wetzel (198 Bcf); Marshall (163 Bcf); Harrison (123 Bcf); Ohio (71 Bcf); Monongalia (66 Bcf); Taylor (37 Bcf) and, Marion (35 Bcf).

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, West Virginia overlies part of the nation’s largest natural gas-producing area, where gas is drilled from the Marcellus and Utica-Point Pleasant shale formations. West Virginia is the seventh-largest producer of marketed natural gas in the nation, mainly because of shale gas production and its natural gas reserves are the fourth largest of any state.

Oil production in West Virginia grew nearly 60%, from 7.5 million barrels in 2017 to 12 million barrels in 2018. This is the largest amount of oil produced since 1900, when the state produced 16 million barrels.