Marketable natural gas production in Alberta has advanced this year despite the wildfire disruptions that reduced year-over-year output in May and, to a lesser extent, June.

In the first half of the year, a total of 54.9 billion cubic metres of marketable natural gas was produced for a 1.2% increase over the same period in 2022.

The increase came despite a pullback in May (-9.1% compared to May 2022) and a smaller decline in June (-2.4%).

At +7.9%, production over the first half of 2023 was also stronger than over the first half of 2021.

We have to go back to the first half of 2010 to find a higher level of marketable natural gas production in the province (56.8 billion cubic metres).

The increased levels can be attributed in part* to producers seeking to take advantage of the higher natural gas prices that followed the reopening of economies after the first year of the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24, 2022.

Benchmark prices have come down from the highs seen last summer, but it remains to be seen how much impact this will have on future natural gas production levels.

*Other factors include transportation issues, storage levels, availability of labour, capital investment decisions, the amount of associated natural gas produced due to oil production, etc.

Answer to the previous trivia question: Chip companies shipped a record 1.15 trillion semiconductor units in 2021.

Today’s trivia question: When did the first warehouse bearing the name Costco open?