Northeast Gas Demand Down as Summer Starts
Northeast gas demand declined week-on-week despite the start of summer, leading to low cash basis over the Juneteenth weekend.
Northeast gas demand declined week-on-week despite the start of summer, leading to low cash basis over the Juneteenth weekend.
Midwestern states are important markets for natural gas producers in the Marcellus/Utica, as are states in the Mid-South, like Kentucky and Tennessee, and states in the Deep South. But expanding gas sales in those markets will require a lot more pipeline capacity, and that’s exactly what’s in the works.
Waha natural gas prices were positive again for the week that just ended. An expansion of the Gulf Coast Express pipeline provided a critical boost by raising outflow capacity.
The Permian region’s marketed natural gas production grew from 17.2 Bcf/d in 2021 to 27.6 Bcf/d in 2025, a 60% increase, the Energy Information Administration said in a June 18 report, citing its latest Short Term Energy Outlook. Over the same period, crude oil production grew by 39%, going from 4.7 MMb/d to 6.6 MMb/d.
Rising demand for natural gas in the U.S. Northeast and regions to its south and west is spurring the development of gas pipeline projects that collectively will enable Marcellus/Utica E&Ps to ratchet up their production into the 2030s. In today’s RBN blog, we continue our review of these projects.
Three new U.S. LNG projects have reached a positive final investment decision this year: Venture Global’s CP2 Phase 2, Caturus’s Commonwealth LNG, and now, most recently, Delfin Midstream’s Delfin LNG, which will be the U.S.’s first floating LNG project.
Haynesville production is beginning to climb again as spring maintenance winds down, with LNG demand expected to rebound as the Freeport facility restarts and Golden Pass commissioning advances.
Natural gas prices were up week-on-week, but still remain negative. Things may be set to change though, as the Gulf Coast Express expansion is imminent.
The Marcellus/Utica still has vast amounts of natural gas to supply the ongoing surge in demand from power generators and LNG exporters. But there’s a catch: A significant step-up in Appalachian production can only occur if new pipeline infrastructure is built to transport that gas to where it’s needed.
The U.S. is at the tail end of an incredible wave of LNG expansion that has so far seen nine new projects across seven terminals reach a final investment decision in a little over a year. Today, we take a closer look at the Commonwealth LNG project and what comes next for U.S. LNG development.