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For what would be a third straight month, oil and natural gas production from seven of the nation’s most prolific onshore unconventional plays will be down in July compared to June, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Monday.

Although Bakken Shale oil and natural gas prices in North Dakota have begun to recover, production continues to plummet at a historic pace, according to Department of Mineral Resources director Lynn Helms.

Appalachia pure-play CNX Resources Corp. plans to increase some of its previously curtailed natural gas production beginning in July, with additional adjustments to be made as conditions warrant.

Natural gas futures advanced Thursday after the latest storage report met expectations and forecasts continued to call for more June heat. However, demand concerns lingered as markets absorbed an economic outlook that pointed to protracted fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The July Nymex contract settled at $1.813/MMBtu, up 3.3 cents day/day. August rose 3.0 cents to $1.900.

The steep downward slope in U.S. drilling activity the past three months showed signs of leveling off during the week ended Friday (June 12) as the domestic count dropped a relatively modest five rigs, according to the latest numbers from Baker Hughes Co. (BKR).

A majority of respondents in a survey of the Texas oil and gas sector expects the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil price to average $30-59/bbl by next May, and most expressed a “good deal” or “great deal” of concern about Democratic candidate Joseph R. Biden Jr. becoming president in November.

With persistent concerns about global exports, cooler-leaning near-term forecasts sent natural gas forward prices down a few notches for the June 4-10 period, according to NGI’s Forward Look.

The beleaguered Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), one of the last major greenfield projects pending to move natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shales, is almost at the finish line, but more delays and cost overruns are likely, according to the operator.

Editor’s Note: NGI’s Mexico Gas Price Index, a leader tracking Mexico natural gas market reform, is offering the following question-and-answer (Q&A) column as part of a regular interview series with experts in the Mexican natural gas market.