According to Bloomberg article published on December 28, 2022, EQT Corp, the largest US natural gas producer, saw production drop by as much as about 30% during the recent bout of extreme cold that caused disruptions for some of its wells in the Appalachian Basin.
The drillers’ daily output fell by between 1 billion and 1.5 billion cubic feet per day during the winter storm, Chief Executive Officer Toby Rice said in a Bloomberg Television interview. That compares with production in the third quarter equivalent to about 5 billion cubic feet a day. Output issues are expected to be resolved in the “next couple of days,” he said.
Rice deemed the slump in US natural gas production during the Arctic blast as “normal” under the circumstances and said that the industry was able to respond “very quickly,” while adding that he thinks renewable power sources “didn’t show up.”
Wind’s share in total Mid-Atlantic and Northeast electricity supplies actually increased during the worst of the storm, according to Energy Information Administration data.
The executive also reiterated his call for more natural gas pipelines as a way to increase supply flows for the heating and power-generation fuel.
