BENTEK: Active Rig Count Has Failed As An Indicator Of U.S. Natural Gas Production

June 14, 2012 - PRLog -- EVERGREEN, CO (June 14, 2012) – The new BENTEK Productivity Index (BPI) from BENTEK Energy, a leading energy markets information and analytics company, reveals the impact of dry gas drilling declines and rig migration to liquids-rich plays in the U.S.  Due to improvements in technology, drilling efficiencies and shifting producer trends, the rig count is no longer is a good indicator of U.S. natural gas production trends.  Today, the productivity and location of each rig is just as critical as the rig count in determining production trends.  

BENTEK’s new BPI provides a base measurement of the gas productivity of the active rigs operating across the country.  By measuring the productivity of each active rig and creating a standardized benchmark rig that produces 1 MMcf/d of dry gas, BENTEK converts the active rig count into a tool that estimates monthly gas production growth and declines by basin.  This new tool can be used as a base upon which dry gas production forecasts can be made.  For example, the BPI reports that one rig operating today in the Haynesville shale is as productive at producing dry natural gas as 55 rigs in the Permian, 38 rigs in the Bakken and seven rigs in the Texas Gulf Coast/Eagle Ford, which are currently targeting wet-gas and oil plays.

BENTEK has also released a new Market Alert, The New BPI: A Rig Count That Makes Sense, which uses BPI data to analyze the factors that impact rig productivity.  Despite the massive drop of active U.S. natural gas rigs to 10-year lows and the migration of many rigs to plays that are rich in oil and gas liquids, dry gas production is only now beginning to retreat from record highs and actually is expected to rebound later this year.  The Market Alert predicts production in dry U.S. gas plays will fall 564 MMcf/d in June, offsetting a 472 MMcf/d production increase from liquids-rich plays.  This net U.S. production decrease is in spite of gains expected in the Marcellus, Eagle Ford, Permian, Anadarko and Bakken.  

In addition, BENTEK’s natural gas Production Monitors now include pages dedicated to BPI data that illustrate drilling efficiencies in regional production areas.  BENTEK’s BPI provides a valuable tool to help understand the impacts of producer behavior on natural gas production.  The BPI provides a base measurement of productivity but does not take into consideration factors such as maintenance, shut-ins, hurricanes and freeze-offs.  

For more information about the BPI or BENTEK’s full line of natural gas Production Monitors, go to http://www.bentekenergy.com or call 1-888-251-1264.

Click here for more information about the BPI: http://www.bentekenergy.com/BPI.aspx

Click here for more information about BENTEK's new Market Alert: http://www.bentekenergy.com/BPIMarketAlert.aspx

Click here for more information about BENTEK's natural gas Production Monitors: http://www.bentekenergy.com/AnalyticsReports.aspx