Pennsylvania’s natural gas production declined in the second quarter of 2026, while the number of new horizontal wells also fell from a year earlier, according to a quarterly report using data from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), and Natural Gas Intelligence.
Natural gas production totaled 1,925 billion cubic feet in the second quarter, down 1.6 percent from the same quarter a year earlier. The report said that was the lowest quarterly production volume since the fourth quarter of 2024.
The decline in production came as drilling activity also weakened. Pennsylvania recorded 89 new horizontal wells spud during the second quarter, 16 fewer than a year earlier, a decline of 15.2 percent.
According to the report, it was the first year-over-year decline in the number of new wells spud in a quarter since the first quarter of 2025.
Preliminary data for July and August indicate that the Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) estimates Pennsylvania will have 102 new horizontal wells spud in the third quarter, an 11.8 percent decline from the same period in 2025.
Natural gas prices also declined during the second quarter. The average Pennsylvania spot hub price was $2.11, down 27 cents, or 11.3 percent, from the second quarter of 2025.
The report noted that the second-quarter average represented a significant decline from the first quarter, when prices were heavily affected by January’s surge following Winter Storm Fern. The January average price was $9.99.
“Since then, the average Pennsylvania price has declined significantly,” the report said.
The IFO estimates that the average Pennsylvania spot price will fall further in the third quarter, to $2.02, which would be a 7.2 percent decrease from the same period a year earlier.
The report also said that spot prices do not represent prices paid by residential customers at the same time. EIA data show that the average price of natural gas sold to Pennsylvania residential customers increased 7.3 percent in the second quarter of 2026 from a year earlier.
Additionally, the report compared year-over-year quarterly natural gas production growth among leading producing states in two major regions: the Marcellus/Utica, which accounts for 28 percent of U.S. production, and the Southwest/Gulf Coast, which accounts for 52 percent.
The Marcellus/Utica region includes the Marcellus and Utica shale formations that largely span Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
The data show that production growth in the Southwest/Gulf Coast region has been significantly stronger than in the Marcellus/Utica region during the last four quarters.
For Pennsylvania, the regional comparison differs from the production figure cited elsewhere in the report because it includes natural gas production from all sources and well types, including conventional wells.
The report also compared Pennsylvania natural gas spot prices with the Henry Hub, the national benchmark.
During the second quarter, the average Pennsylvania hub price was $2.11, compared with $2.95 at Henry Hub. Both prices declined significantly from the first quarter.
Pennsylvania’s average price was 84 cents below Henry Hub during the second quarter, a difference the report said was consistent with recent price differentials.
Preliminary data indicate that third-quarter average prices will be approximately $2.86 for Henry Hub and $2.02 for Pennsylvania.
“If accurate, both prices would represent a moderate decline from the prior year,” the report said.
The report notes that data through the second quarter of 2026 are final. Third-quarter figures are estimates based on data from July and August and will be revised in the next quarterly report.