Extending a downtrend that began early in 2020, natural gas production from seven major U.S. producing regions is set to continue declining in the first month of 2021, according to updated projections from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

natural gas output

Gas production from the Anadarko, Appalachian and Permian basins, as well as from the Bakken, Eagle Ford, Haynesville and Niobrara formations, is on track to decline 744 MMcf/d month/month (m/m) in January, to 80.777 Bcf/d, EIA said in its latest Drilling Productivity Report (DPR), published Monday.

Among the major plays tracked in the DPR, only the Haynesville is expected to grow output from December to January, with production to rise 10 MMcf/d m/m to just over 11.3 Bcf/d. 

Conversely, output from the Appalachian Basin is...