Diminishing gas glut

Falling production and higher demand should tighten the US natural gas market in 2017

US gas output tumbled in 2016. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) expected production from the country's seven most prolific regions to fall to 46.95bn cubic feet per day in December. That's down from almost 48.18bn cf/d in February. For all of 2016, the EIA expects total gas output to fall by 1.4bn cf/d, to 77.3bn cf/d. It may at last bring American gas supply's gravity-defying act to an end. In fact, US natural gas production has been contracting since mid-2015-reflecting a decline in conventional production and shale oil-associated output. Associated gas production has dropped in most of the country's crude-rich plays over the past two years, including the Eagle Ford, Bakken and