Executive Summary
Production in the Marcellus & Utica held steady in 2022 despite historically high commodity price volatility driven by the Russian-Ukraine war, the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, and rising LNG exports to Europe to stave-off potential winter heating shortages. The Q4 Appalachian rig count is at a level beyond that needed for production volume maintenance, so there would seem to be at least some potential for Henry Hub price reductions going into 2023. However, the demand for new natural gas supplies to Europe provides a countervailing wind to any potential downward movement in natural gas prices. In the end, the natural gas markets seem to be in the midst of a series of events that promise continued supply and demand shifts with no certainty as to where the market will go in 2023.
