Podcasts

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10 December 2025

The next US shale hotspot: Western Haynesville, with Matthew Bernstein

Let’s Talk Energy and dig into a hot new source of US natural gas production that could help meet the country’s rising domestic demand and fuel the growing LNG export business - the Western Haynesville.

Episode description

Let’s Talk Energy and dig into a hot new source of US natural gas production that could help meet the country’s rising domestic demand and fuel the growing LNG export business - the Western Haynesville. While the Haynesville Shale will be familiar to many in the industry, having been among the top US gas-producing areas for more than a decade, the Western Haynesville is a new place geographically, and covers new ground geologically as well. With a long queue of new LNG export facilities moving ahead in the US, there is a growing buzz that companies exploring the Western Haynesville could be in the right place at exactly the right time to capitalize on this additional demand. But first they will have to push the boundaries of technology to cut costs and prove the performance of these expensive and technically challenging wells can be repeated hundreds or even thousands of times. How has the Western Haynesville evolved, and which companies are actively exploring in the area? What questions remain about the play, and how can it become a commercial success? What do these developments tell us about the state of US onshore exploration today? Are continued shale production gains expected, and will they help meet domestic and global demand?