The prolific Permian basin in the US is expected push onshore shale production to another record in October when it will add around 71,000 barrels per day of crude, the largest increase of any of the seven plays included in the Energy Information Administration (EIA)'s monthly report.
The Permian, spanning from west Texas to south-east New Mexico, is anticipated to produce 4.5 million bpd in October, according to the EIA’s drilling productivity report.
Overall, production is set to rise by 74,000 bpd across all shale plays, the majority of it coming from the Permian.
The EIA anticipates the Niobrara play in Colorado increasing output by 12,000 bpd for a total of 767,000 bpd in October.
The Anadarko basin in Oklahoma is set to take the biggest dip of the plays, losing 9000 bpd in October for 549,000 bpd in total.
The Eagle Ford shale play in south Texas will also drop its production, by about 6000 bpd to a total of 1.4 million bpd.
The Permian will also add the most natural gas output, producing an additional 229 million cubic feet per day for 15.1 billion cubic feet in October, which is also a new record.
Across all the basins, October gas production is forecast to rise 0.6% to 82.4 Bcfd.
The Appalachian region, where the Marcellus and Utica plays are located, is expected to add 196 MMcfd in October, totalling 32.8 Bcfd.
The Anadarko basin next month will lose out on 96 MMcfd, the EIA predicts, as the play is expected to total about 7.4 Bcfd for October. The Eagle Ford will also see a decrease in natural gas output of about 18 MMcfd to 6.7 Bcfd in total.
The overall count for drilled but uncompleted wells fell by 142 from July to August, as the seven plays held 7950 DUCs last month. The largest losses were recorded in the Anadarko basin, down 46, and in the Permian, a decrease of 25. The Anadarko has 860 DUCs while the Permian has 3839.
