After treading near the 79-Bcf/d level this past spring, Lower 48 natural gas production surged about 1.5 Bcf/d higher in the last three weeks of June to record highs approaching 82 Bcf/d by month’s end. The supply gains suspended the market’s bullish view of the persistently large storage deficit compared with last year and the five-year average and reeled in the prompt CME/NYMEX Henry Hub futures contract from the $3/MMBtu mark — at least for now. Where did the gains occur and how much of that influx truly is new production versus volumes returning from seasonal maintenance? Today, we examine the drivers behind the recent production jump.
It’s no surprise that Lower 48 production has been on a tear lately. As we noted in Fill Me Up, Buttercup, the market this past winter was expected to add more than 4 Bcf/d of pipeline takeaway capacity in the Northeast. Much of that has come to fruition, with new capacity added as recently as June 1 on Rover Pipeline (Are You Ready, Part 2). Moreover, rig counts (black line in Figure 1) in recent weeks have been at the highest levels since March 2015, with the June 2018 average count coming to 1,056 rigs.
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About the song
"Sky's the Limit" is the third single from The Notorious B.I.G.'s 1997 double album titled Life After Death, which would be his second and final studio album before his death in March 1997. The song was written by Christopher Wallace (The Notorious B.I.G.), Clark Kent, Bobby Caldwell, Hubert Eaves III, and James Williams. The song featured vocals from the R&B group 112, and was produced by Clark Kent (Rodolfo Franklin). It contains samples from "Slow Dance" by Stanley Clarke, "My Flame" by Bobby Caldwell, and "Keep On" by D. Train. It was released in three different versions as a single in November 1997, and went to #1 on the Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart. "Sky's the Limit" was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1998.
The Life After Death LP was released in March 1997 following The Notorious B.I.G.'s murder in Los Angeles 16 days earlier. It went to #1 on both the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart and the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It was certified Diamond (10 million units sold) by the RIAA in 2000.
The Notorious B.I.G. (Christopher George Latore Wallace), also known as Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, came from Brooklyn, NY, and was regarded as a kingpin of East Coast gangster rap. His signature was an easy flow in his rap, which often featured themes of hardship and violence. After returning from a Vibe Magazine party at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, Biggie was assassinated in his car while waiting at a red light in the city’s Mid-Wilshire district in the early-morning hours of March 9, 1997. He was only 24.
Biggie has won two Billboard Music Awards, one MTV Video Music Award and one Soul Train Music Award. He has sold over 17 million units in the U.S., including 13.4 million albums. He is considered by many to be one of the best rappers of all time.
