Permian natural gas production during the week ended September 28 averaged 23.5 Bcf/d, which was just 0.1 Bcf/d lower than the record high average of the prior two weeks. In general production remains extremely high and has been climbing this month since Hugh Brinson Phase 1 began service. With just a few days left in the month, production has averaged around 23.6 Bcf/d, up 0.5 Bcf/d month-on-month and up over 1.6 Bcf/d since the Gulf Coast Express expansion came online in June. The high production levels are visible in the orange line in the graph below. The two new takeaway capacity projects have debottlenecked the basin and more capacity is still coming this year. Blackcomb Pipeline is commissioning and will begin full commercial service before the end of the year. RBN expects production to climb to just under 24 Bcf/d by the end of the year, which is nearly 2 Bcf/d above the level of six months earlier before new capacity came online. While incredibly strong, that growth in supply is much less than the new takeaway capacity, which leaves room for continued production growth next year and beyond.
Source: NATGAS Permian, Wood Mackenzie
To the point, eastbound capacity from the Permian was not fully in use last week. Outflows to the East averaged 14.3 Bcf/d during the week ended September 28, which was 0.3 Bcf/d lower than the prior week. Flows to the East remain strong, but reported outflows on Whistler Pipeline, which had been incredibly high for most of this month, eased slightly last week.
