Haynesville Shale Output Climbs Past 7 Bcf/d

An early center of American shale drilling is roaring back to life, boosted by new petrochemical and fertilizer plants, and liquefied natural gas export terminals along the Gulf Coast. The Haynesville Shale, a giant field in northwest Louisiana, was one of fracking's hottest spots a decade ago. But it fizzled out about five years ago as gas prices plunged and drillers focused on finding oil in Texas. Problems surfaced soon after hundreds of rigs piled into northwestern Louisiana. They unleashed a surge in production that pushed down prices, which had been high and relatively volatile for years. The crash in prices meant that shale drillers moved on to greener pastures, and most of them began looking for oil rather than gas because crude fetched $70-80 per barrel.