Natural gas production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is expected to decline for a fourth straight year in 2023, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) analysts.

GOM

GOM gas output is forecast to average 2.1 Bcf/d in 2023, down 0.1 Bcf/d from the expected total in 2022, said EIA analysts James Easton, Kirby Lawrence and Jim O’Sullivan, citing projections from EIA’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook.

GOM oil production, meanwhile, is expected to stay basically flat at 1.8 million b/d. In other words, “Declining production from existing GOM fields is greater than the increase in production from new fields for natural gas and is equal for crude oil,” researchers said.

The GOM supplied 15% of all U.S. oil production and 2% of natural gas output in 2021,...