Data collected by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) projects that unconventional natural gas production in Pennsylvania is on pace to hit a record-setting 6 Tcf in 2018.
The state is already the second-largest producer of natural gas in the United States.
According to the IFO, unconventional natural gas production reached 1.57 Tcf in the third quarter of 2018, up 18.5 percent from the third quarter of 2017 and up eight percent from the second quarter of 2018.
The third quarter growth rate is much higher than the gains reported in the first and second quarters of 2018.
In 2017, Pennsylvania operators produced about 5.4 Tcf of natural gas. The third quarter gain is the eighth consecutive quarter of horizontal well production increases in the state.
The number of producing wells in the state also increased, up to 8,917 from 8,076 producing wells in the third quarter of 2017.