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More often than not, individuals looking to earn income from their mineral rights are hopeful to find oil below their property. The now-timeless art of getting rich off of your land is almost synonymous with striking a fruitful field of crude oil.
But what about natural gas? In this article, we are going to take a look at natural gas wells across the United States. After identifying the best parts of the country to earn natural gas royalties, we will answer the question, “What is an average natural gas well production?”
The States with the Most Natural Gas Production
In 2016, natural gas was the largest source of energy in the United States. In comparison to coal, natural gas is lower in price and also better for the environment with a smaller carbon footprint. For this reason, many companies may be interested in buying your mineral rights in order to extract and sell natural gas.
According to the US Energy Information Administration, 2018’s top states for natural gas production are as follows:
- Texas
- Pennsylvania
- Oklahoma
- Louisiana
- Ohio
How much does an Average Natural Gas Well Produce?
Within the states listed above, much of the natural gas produced can be found in some of the countries’ largest gas-producing fields. For example, the Marcellus Shale field in Pennsylvania and West Virginia is known to produce nearly 3,000 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year. Likewise, the Barnett shale, Haynesville Shale, and Eagle Rock formation make up a large portion of Texas’s gas production.
Of course, natural gas wells eventually deplete and the amount of resources that can be extracted decline gradually over time. At first, a well will likely produce between one and twenty million cubic feet of natural gas per day. After which, the rate will slowly decline over a well’s 20 to 30 year lifespan.
