(Editor’s Note: This story is one in a series providing expert forecasts for the global natural gas and oil markets in 2022. Look for NGI’s extensive coverage of what happened in 2021 and what can be expected in 2022 and beyond in terms of prices, the LNG export markets, ESG, Mexico’s production and project prospects, North American midstream infrastructure plans and exploration and production strategies.)

Higher natural gas prices were a positive for natural gas producers in the Appalachian Basin in 2021, but ongoing “uncertainties” threaten the industry’s long-term growth prospects.

“These include a number of challenges at the federal level being pushed by the Biden administration and some members of Congress, such as a punitive methane tax, and statewide issues...