Natural gas production is booming -- so much so that some investors worry that natural gas could be the most dangerous investment in energy.

I disagree, but investors must realize that the huge growth in production is keeping natural gas prices really low, and there will probably be pain before there are large gains. That said, there are good opportunities in natural gas for investors willing to look.

Getting to the point, the Natural Gas Supply Association released a paper on the largest U.S. natural gas producers. The data was interesting enough that I reproduced the top 25 here.

Rank

Company

Q2 Production (MMcf/Day)

Q1 Production (MMcf/Day)

Year Ago (MMcf/Day)

1 ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) 3,842 3,904 3,909
2 Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) 2,575 2,703 2,497
3 Anadarko (NYSE: APC) 2,326 2,412 2,324
4 Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN) 2,029 1,964 1,982
5 Encana (NYSE: ECA) 1,864 1,801 2,240
6 BP (NYSE: BP) 1,833 1,905 1,875
7 ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) 1,651 1,589 1,822
8 Southwestern Energy (NYSE: SWN) 1,347 1,277 1,077
9 Chevron (NYSE: CVX) 1,299 1,270 1,317
10 Williams Energy (NYSE: WMB) 1,203 1,155 1,099
11 EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG) 1,114 1,134 1,069
12 Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-B) 903 1,003 1,145
13 Apache (NYSE: APA) 880 858 675
14 Petrohawk Energy* 841 743 599
15 Occidental (NYSE: OXY) 761 734 681
16 El Paso Energy (NYSE: EP) 629 630 526
17 Ultra Petroleum (NYSE: UPL) 627 600 590
18 QEP Resources (NYSE: QEP) 626 657 554
19 Newfield Exploration (NYSE: NFX) 516 503 564
20 EXCO Resources (NYSE: XCO) 489 395 321
21 EQT Resources (NYSE: EQT) 482 446 281
22 Cabot Oil & Gas (NYSE: COG) 474 404 318
23 Noble Energy (NYSE: NBL) 378 382 414
24 Range Resources (NYSE: RRC) 361 430 279
25 Pioneer Natural (NYSE: PXD) 337 325 334

Source: Natural Gas Supply Association. 
*Petrohawk Energy was acquired by BHP Billiton in July.

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