据油气新闻12月24日消息称，2019年，宾夕法尼亚州、俄亥俄州和西弗吉尼亚州占美国页岩气产量的三分之一。

该地区的马塞勒斯（Marcellus）和尤蒂卡（Utica）页岩气生产商在2019年收获颇丰。宾夕法尼亚州、俄亥俄州和西弗吉尼亚州加起来占全国天然气产量的三分之一但在2020年可能会放缓。

马塞勒斯和尤蒂卡页岩钻探公司在2019年生产了300亿立方英尺的天然气。供应的增加使价格降至每百万英热单位2美元左右。与前10年相比，当时天然气的售价约为每百万英热单位8美元。

宾夕法尼亚州立大学的地质学家Terry Engelder在2008年首次报道了页岩气的丰富程度。

Engelder表示：“这些公司进行了投资，预计天然气价格在6到8到10美元之间。没人想过天然气价格会稳定在2美元。这种情况发生的太多了，尤其是在宾夕法尼亚州，公司无法出售天然气。”

IHS Markit天然气高级主管Charles Nevle表示，这并不意味着天然气产量正在下降，但确实意味着2020年天然气产量将持平。

Nevle表示：“我们无法在2020年提高产量。因此，我们将从2019年的快速增长期过渡到必须保持产量基本持平的一年。”

大型天然气生产商雪佛龙公司最近宣布，将退出马塞勒斯(Marcellus)和尤蒂卡(Utica)页岩气田的开发。

在美国部分地区，天然气产量很高，以至于很多公司都在燃烧而不是出售天然气。

Nevle称，包括石油在内的页岩气的生产商，如德克萨斯州的二叠纪盆地，他们已经看到了天然气的负价。这也压低了全国范围的价格。

他表示:“因此，当你依赖天然气价格时，这将是一个非常具有挑战性的环境。”

Nevle称，到2020年，需求也将下降，而储存将是一个挑战。你可以烧掉它或者把它放回地里。如果没有更多的储存空间，你只能削减产量。

他说：“这意味着更少的钻机作业、更少的钻井、更低的活动。”

曹海斌 摘译自 油气新闻

原文如下：

Natural gas production headed for a slow-down in 2020 in US

Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia accounted for one third of the country’s shale gas production in 2019.

The region’s Marcellus and Utica shale gas producers had a banner year in 2019. Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia together accounted for one-third of the nation’s natural gas production. But a likely slow-down is ahead in 2020.

Marcellus and Utica shale drillers produced 30 billion cubic feet of gas in 2019. The increased supply has driven down prices to about $2 per million British thermal units. Compare that to the previous decade, when gas was selling at about $8 per million Btu.

Penn State geologist Terry Engelder first reported on the abundance of shale gas in 2008.

“These companies made their investments, anticipating six- to eight- to 10-dollar gas,” Engelder said. “No one ever dreamed it would stabilize at two-dollar gas. There’s just so much of it, particularly here in Pennsylvania, that the companies can’t sell it.”

IHS Markit senior director for natural gas Charles Nevle says it’s not an indication natural gas production is going away, but it does mean production will be flat in 2020.

“We can’t grow production in 2020,” Nevle said. “So we’re going from this really rapid growth period in 2019 to a year that will have to keep production essentially flat.”

Major gas producer Chevron recently announced it is pulling out of the Marcellus and Utica shale plays.

In parts of the country, gas production is so high, companies are burning it off rather than selling it.

Nevle says producers in shale formations that also include oil, like the Permian Basin in Texas, have seen negative prices for natural gas. And that has also driven down prices nationwide.

“So that makes it a very challenging environment when you are dependent on natural gas prices,” he said.

Nevle says demand will also wane in 2020, and storage will be a challenge. You can burn it or put it back in the ground. If there’s no more room for storage, you just have to cut production.

“That means less rigs operating, less wells being drilled, lower activity,” he said.