Natural gas is found across a wide swath of the United States, but production is heavily concentrated in a handful of states. In 2023, just five states accounted for roughly 72% of the country’s 37.8 trillion cubic feet of dry natural gas output. The largest deposits sit in shale formations deep underground, in offshore waters beneath the Gulf of Mexico, and in coal seams stretching across Appalachia and the Rocky Mountain West.
The Top Producing States
Texas dominates U.S. natural gas production, contributing 9.75 trillion cubic feet in 2023, or about 25.8% of the national total. Much of this comes from the Permian Basin in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where gas is often pulled from the ground alongside oil. The Permian alone accounted for 46% of U.S. crude oil production in 2023 and was the single largest source of oil-associated gas in the country, producing 11.5 billion cubic feet per day.
Pennsylvania ranks second at 7.49 trillion cubic feet (19.8%), a position it earned almost entirely through the Marcellus Shale boom that began around 2010. Louisiana follows at 4.30 trillion cubic feet (11.4%), driven by the Haynesville Shale along the Texas-Louisiana border. West Virginia and New Mexico round out the top five at 7.7% and 7.6%, respectively.
The Appalachian Basin
The Appalachian Basin, home to the massive Marcellus and Utica shale formations, stretches from New York through Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and into parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and Alabama. It is the most productive natural gas region in the country when measured as a single geologic system. In 2022, the basin produced 34.7 billion cubic feet per day.
Production is remarkably concentrated within the basin. Just four Pennsylvania counties, Susquehanna, Washington, Bradford, and Greene, produced 40% of the entire Appalachian Basin’s output in 2022. Susquehanna County alone has averaged more than 4.0 billion cubic feet per day since 2018, making it the single most productive county in the region since 2014. This level of concentration means a relatively small geographic area in northeastern and southwestern Pennsylvania supplies a significant share of the entire nation’s gas.
Offshore Production in the Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico (recently renamed the Gulf of America in federal records) remains the nation’s primary offshore source of oil and gas, generating about 97% of all production from U.S. federal offshore waters. In 2023, the Gulf’s federal offshore zone produced 0.66 trillion cubic feet of dry natural gas, equal to 1.7% of the national total. That share is modest compared to onshore shale production, but the Gulf remains strategically important because its infrastructure feeds directly into Louisiana’s network of pipelines, processing plants, and liquefied natural gas export terminals.
Associated Gas vs. Standalone Gas Wells
Not all natural gas comes from wells drilled specifically for it. About 37% of U.S. natural gas production in 2023 came as a byproduct of oil drilling. This is called associated gas, and it rises to the surface alongside crude oil. The Permian Basin is the biggest source, but associated gas also comes from oil-rich formations in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale and other plays.
The remaining 63% comes from non-associated wells, meaning wells drilled primarily for natural gas. The Marcellus Shale and Haynesville Shale are the two largest non-associated gas sources. This distinction matters because associated gas production rises and falls with oil prices and oil drilling activity, not gas demand. When oil prices are high and drilling surges, associated gas floods the market and can push natural gas prices down.
Coalbed Methane and Other Sources
Beyond shale and conventional wells, natural gas is also trapped within coal seams. This coalbed methane is extracted by drilling into coal deposits and pumping out water to release the gas. The most significant coalbed methane resources are found in the Appalachian Basin, the Black Warrior Basin in Alabama, the San Juan Basin straddling Colorado and New Mexico, and the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana. Coalbed methane makes up a smaller share of total production than shale gas, but it remains an active source in these regions.
How Much Gas Remains Underground
At the end of 2023, U.S. proved natural gas reserves stood at 603.6 trillion cubic feet. That was a 12.6% drop from the prior year’s 691.0 trillion cubic feet, the first annual decrease since 2020. Proved reserves represent the volume that companies are reasonably certain they can extract with current technology and prices. The decline reflected lower natural gas prices in 2023, which made some deposits uneconomical to count as proved. It does not necessarily mean the gas disappeared; if prices rise or technology improves, those reserves can be reclassified upward again.
The largest concentrations of proved reserves mirror the production map: Texas, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, West Virginia, and New Mexico hold the bulk of what’s left to extract. With 34 states producing at least some natural gas, the resource is geographically widespread, but the economic heart of the industry sits firmly in Appalachian shale country and the Permian Basin of West Texas.