US shale output seen rising 111,000 bpd to 6.76 million bpd in March

US crude production from major shale formations is expected to rise in March by 111,000 barrels per day from the previous month to 6.76 million bpd, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a monthly report on Monday. That expected increase would top the 109,000 bpd increase in February from the previous month, the EIA said.
The increase is largely driven by gains in the Permian and Eagle Ford formations, according to the report. US shale production is seen as potentially disrupting the global supply balance, as increases offset cuts by producers including members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia.
Production is expected to rise by 75,000 bpd in the Permian to 3 million barrels a day in March, the agency said in its drilling productivity report. The Eagle Ford was expected to see gains of 18,000 bpd to 1.3 million bpd. Rig productivity is expected to rise in the Eagle Ford with 58,000 bpd more new-well production per rig in the month.
The number of drilled but uncompleted wells, which can be brought online quickly if prices support additional drilling, rose by 121 to 7,609 in January, according to the report. Most regions saw increases in drilled uncompleted wells, but Appalachia, the Bakken in North Dakota and the Niobrara shale all saw the number of so-called DUCs decrease.
Meanwhile, US natural gas production was projected to increase to a record 64.9 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in March. That would be up over 0.8 bcfd from the February forecast and would be the 12th monthly increase in a row. The EIA projected gas output would increase in all of the big shale basins in March, except the Anadarko region in Oklahoma and North Texas, which is expected to decline for a third month in a row.
Output in the Appalachia region, the biggest shale gas play, was set to rise by almost 0.3 bcfd to a record high of 27.1 bcfd in March, a fifth consecutive increase. Production in Appalachia was 23.0 bcfd in the same month a year ago.
EIA said producers drilled 1,246 wells and completed 1,125 in the biggest shale basins in January, leaving total drilled but uncompleted wells up 121 at a record high 7,609, according to data going back to January 2013.