US shale crude output to fall in November: EIA

OREANDA-NEWS. October 14, 2015. Crude output in major US shale basins will fall by 93,000 b/d to 5.12mn b/d from October to November, according the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Production should drop in the Bakken, Eagle Ford, Niobrara and Marcellus formations, while output in the top-producing Permian basin should rise, the EIA said in its latest Drilling Productivity Report.

Eagle Ford production is expected to fall by 71,000 b/d to 1.37mn b/d in November. That would mark the eighth consecutive month of output declines in that south Texas field.

Bakken output in November should drop by 23,000 b/d to 1.16mn b/d. And Niobrara output is expected to fall by 20,000 b/d to 372,000 b/d.

Meanwhile, crude production in the Permian should rise by 21,000 b/d to 2.03mn b/d in November, which would be a 12pc increase from a year earlier.

The report includes crude and natural gas production estimates in seven basins.

Utica crude output should increase slightly by 1,000 b/d to 79,000 b/d in November while production in the Haynesville is expected to be flat at 58,000 b/d.

Marcellus oil production should fall by 1,000 b/d to 52,000 b/d. The Marcellus is the top US natural gas producing field, with gas output this month expected to top 16 Bcf/d (453mn m?/d).

The EIA's monthly report bases its estimates on the rig count combined with existing productivity data and estimated changes in existing production. The seven fields accounted for 92pc of US crude production growth and 100pc of natural gas production growth from 2011-2014, the agency said.