U.S. energy company EQT plans to reverse some natural gas production curtailments in October and November as demand for the fuel and prices increase, CEO Toby Rice told Reuters on Wednesday.
EQT, the biggest U.S. natural gas producer, has along with other U.S. drillers curtailed output in 2024 after prices collapsed to multi-year lows in the spring following a mild winter that left a tremendous oversupply of fuel in storage.
“Production curtailments will be a normal part of our strategy when prices are low,” Rice said, noting the company has already curtailed about 1 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of production in the spring.
“We’re watching to see that come back in October and November… We will ease curtailments in October,” Rice said, noting total curtailments were around 2 bcfd across the entire industry.
Analysts have said they expect EQT and other producers to boost output in late 2024 and in 2025 to meet growing export demand for the fuel as new U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants currently under construction enter service.
Rice was in New York during Climate Week and made his comments after the Partnership to Address Global Emissions, an advocacy group of which EQT is a founding member, launched a new study, “Securing Europe’s Net Zero Path with Flexible LNG,” in collaboration with the Centre on Regulation in Europe.
(Reporting by Scott DiSavino Editing by Bill Berkrot)