Hyperion - Client

Q1 2026 Long Term Forecast Production Update

Written by SynMax | Mar 20, 2026 1:00:02 PM

We wanted to share our latest production update, covering our revised Long term Forecast for oil and natural gas as well as general model updates. View the full update on the Energy Dashboard and tune into our Quarterly Production Webinar, this morning at 10am EST

 

Natural Gas Forecast 

Since our last forecast on 11/20/2025, we have made some changes to the long-term natural gas production forecast. Lower 48 production for Mar-2026 through Dec-2026 was revised higher by 0.6 Bcf/d from our last forecast due to higher expected Permian natural gas production from higher revised pipeline scrape production and from higher oil prices, higher expected Oklahoma natural gas production due to efficiency gains and strong pipeline scrape production, and higher expected South Texas natural gas production due to higher revised pipeline scrape production and strong EOG guidance in the Dorado basin. The higher revisions from Permian, Oklahoma, and South Texas more than offset the lower revised production forecast in the Northeast. The Haynesville production forecast was kept unchanged from the last forecast as public producer guidance confirms very strong 2026 YOY growth in addition to extremely strong YOY growth and activity from private Haynesville producers such as APEX NG LLC.

The 2027-2028 long-term natural gas production forecast was revised higher by 1.7 Bcf/d from the last forecast on 11/20/2025 for the same reasons as the balance of 2026 production forecast revision. Permian, Oklahoma, and South Texas were all revised higher and more than offset the lower revision in the Northeast. The 2027-2028 Haynesville forecast was kept unchanged from the last forecast. 
 
Producers are guiding for the continuation of strong YOY efficiency gains for 2026 for the Lower 48. This will allow producers to continue to cut back on rigs and frac crews, while simultaneously increasing production in 2026. Higher oil pricing ($70/Bbl plus oil pricing in 2027) should incentivize Permian producers to increase activity later in 2026, allowing higher natural gas production to coincide with much higher natural gas pipeline egress in the second half of 2026 and first half of 2027. 

 

 

Oil Forecast

2025 year-over-year oil production came in at 350 Mbd, down 59 Mbd on a static end-of-year basis. We have revised our 2026 forecast upward to approximately 360 Mbd (+55 Mbd), driven by two primary factors.

While producer guidance this quarter pointed to notably restrained growth — public producers were guiding just a 0.7% increase in 2026 — the efficiency commitments embedded in that guidance were just as aggressive as last year's, which already gave us reason to question the conservatism of those figures.

Following the outbreak of hostilities in Iran and the subsequent moves in the crude price curve — developments that occurred largely after earnings season — we find it difficult to see how there is not a meaningful knock-on effect on production, particularly given that the disruption appears likely to persist for at least several months. Our revised outlook reflects this view.

As has been the case, virtually all of the growth continues to come from the Permian Basin, constrained primarily by residual gas takeaway capacity. Most other basins remain flat to declining.

  

Model Updates

Changes to our daily production nowcast are modest this cycle. Overall, we have increased our Lower 48 estimate by 0.2 Bcf/d for March.

- **Haynesville Basin:** We have recalibrated the contribution of bullet pipelines delivering to the Gulf Coast, attributing a greater share of associated production to our Haynesville Texas sub-region relative to Louisiana. The net effect is an increase of approximately +0.3 Bcf/d in Texas, a decrease of approximately -0.1 Bcf/d in Louisiana, and a net Haynesville increase of ~0.2 Bcf/d for March.

- **South Texas:** We have identified additional nomination points that improve our coverage of this historically under-sampled sub-region, increasing our nowcast by approximately +0.4 Bcf/d for March. We continue to monitor South Texas closely given ongoing data coverage challenges.

 


As usual, contact support@synmax.com with questions.
 

 

  SynMax Energy Symposium 2026