Washington, Butler counties gain in natural gas production

March 6, 2018

By Paul J. Gough  – Reporter, Pittsburgh Business Times

Washington County remained a solid second in natural gas production and No. 1 in number of producing wells, according to state data released Monday.

Washington County ended 2017 with 945 billion cubic feet of natural gas production, up 12.7 percent from a year ago. No. 1 Susquehanna County registered 1.3 billion cubic feet of production, up 7.8 percent from a year ago.

Bradford, in third place, was flat with 708 billion cubic feet, and Greene County, No. 4, had 658 billion cubic feet, down 4.8 percent from a year ago. Wyoming County, in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, was up 27 percent with 354.9 billion cubic feet.

Washington remained on top in terms of producing wells, with 1,370, up 14.2 percent. Susquehanna was No. 2 with 1,194, up 13.8 percent. The remainder of the top five also registering increases including Bradford (1,084, up 2.7 percent), Greene (857, up 12.2 percent) and Lycoming (762, up 1 percent).

Butler and Fayette counties were also in the top 10 in natural gas production, according to the Independent Fiscal Office analysis of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection data. Butler saw a 9 percent increase in production volume to 185 billion cubic feet, while Fayette saw a drop of about 1 percent to 78.3 billion cubic feet. IFO said Susquehanna, Washington, Bradford and Greene accounted for two-thirds of Pennsylvania's overall natural gas production, which was 5.4 billion cubic feet and up 5.3 percent from a year ago.