Shale gas drillers in Pennsylvania produced roughly 20.6 Bcf/d in September, the 10th straight month in which the state's output exceeded 20 Bcf/d but did not break the 21 Bcf/d mark.

September production was unchanged from the preceding month but 10% higher than the same month a year ago, according to data from the state's Department of Environmental Protection on Dec. 20.

The state's five biggest producers — EQT Corp., Chesapeake Energy Corp., Coterra Energy Inc., Range Resources Corp. and Southwestern Energy Co. — accounted for 71% of Pennsylvania's output but had minimal volume changes compared to August.

After years of squandering upward price movements by increasing gas supplies, top executives said they would not add more rigs in an effort to capture prices as high as $6/MMBtu in winter contracts. That attitude may have been prescient; the futures price crumbled in November as warmer-than-normal weather settled into high-consumption markets in the Midwest and East.

"Continued discipline from producers is prudent," Range President and CEO Jeffrey Ventura told analysts on an Oct. 27 earnings conference call. "To that end, Range remains committed to a maintenance-level program.

"Looking at supply-demand fundamentals and at the shape of the futures curve for natural gas and NGLs, we do not believe the market is incentivizing Appalachian producers to grow in the near term," Ventura said.

Nicholas DeIuliis, president and CEO of smaller producer CNX Resources Corp., told analysts on CNX's Oct. 28 earnings call that "we like where we're at with this effective 'one rig, one frack crew' array, and that's generating a substantial amount of free cash flow."

Chesapeake had the highest year-over-year production increase among the top five as it kept three rigs working on its northeast Pennsylvania dry gas acreage. The Oklahoma City driller emerged from Chapter 11 on Feb. 9, pitching itself to investors as a low-cost natural gas producer with plans to dedicate 45% of its capital budget to Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale.

EQT increased its volumes 13% from a year ago, fueled by its $2.9 billion acquisition of Alta Resources LLC's Marcellus Shale operations based in Lycoming County.