回顾整个油田历史，很久以前天然气就被视为一种麻烦事而不是一种商品，要么是石油发现的不良副产品，要么是在井中而不是在石油中遇到的天然气。有针对性的黑金。

当运营商钻探石油时，情况可能会变得复杂，尤其是在像现在这样原油价格坚挺但天然气价格坚挺的时期。此外，当石油被发现时，通常会伴随着伴生天然气。当生产商打开水龙头将石油输送到销售线时，如果运输天然气的有限外卖能力已经捉襟见肘，那么天然气可能会出现问题。

这就是得克萨斯州西部和新墨西哥州东南部多产的二叠纪盆地许多运营商的现状。

将天然气运出二叠纪的基础设施限制，加上相对温和的冬季导致的高储存量，正在影响该地区的天然气价格。截至 5 月初，位于德克萨斯州斯托克顿堡附近的 WAHA 中心的天然气价格低于零——负4.60 美元/MMBtu。

这不仅意味着该地区生产的天然气基本上是免费的，而且负价格还意味着试图将天然气运出该地区的生产商必须向某人支付额外费用。

Reflecting on oilfield history as a whole, it wasn’t all that long ago that natural gas was treated more like a nuisance than a commodity, either an undesirable byproduct of an oil discovery or a letdown when it was encountered in a well instead of the targeted black gold.

It can complicate things when an operator is drilling for oil, especially during periods like now when crude prices are robust, but gas prices aren’t. Additionally, when oil is discovered, it often comes with associated natural gas. When producers turn the taps to get that oil into sales lines, the gas can be problematic if the limited takeaway capacity for transporting it is already stretched.

This is the current situation for many operators in the prolific Permian Basin of west Texas and south-east New Mexico.

Infrastructure constraints to ship natural gas out of the Permian combined with high storage levels due to a relatively mild winter are wreaking natural gas pricing in the region. Natural gas prices at the WAHA hub located near Fort Stockton, Texas, were below zero—negative $4.60/MMBtu as recently early May.

Not only did that mean that produced gas in the region was basically free, but the negative price also meant producers trying to move gas out of the region would have to pay someone extra to do it.