Devon natural gas production passes milestone

Devon Energy Corp. officials say the Oklahoma City-based company has reached a milestone in its production of natural gas from the Barnett Shale.

Devon's production from the shale in north Texas surpassed 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent during April. The company says it reached that production level 21 months ahead of schedule.

Devon is the shale's largest producer and its output in the Barnett is equivalent to about 2 percent of the nation's daily supply of natural gas.

Devon is operating 34 rigs over 726,000 acres in the shale and has about 7,500 drilling locations remaining in the field.