Massive volumes of natural gas are already converging on the Katy Hub and much more will be soon. A planned bidirectional header system is designed to help ease the flow of gas through that key aggregation and distribution point for gas bound for industrial, power-generation, and LNG export load.
U.S. LNG feedgas demand dropped last week as disruptions at Freeport and planned pipeline maintenance at Corpus Christi reduced deliveries.
Outflows from the Permian Basin were down last week. Nevertheless, production remains very high
The Permian Basin is poised to gain new natural gas pipelines and projects over the next year or two, finally easing its long-standing takeaway constraints. But the changes will not stop there. A new wave of proposed projects could further reshape the basin into the 2030s.
U.S. oil and gas rig count fell by five rigs to 588 for the week ending August 21 according to Baker Hughes data, as declines in Gulf of Mexico (-2), Haynesville (-2), the Niobrara (-1) and All Other (-3) overwhelmed gains in Permian (+2) and the Eagle Ford (+1).
British Columbia is a new hot spot for LNG export development. The first phase of LNG Canada is up and running; Phase 2 is nearing FID. Two smaller LNG export projects are under construction; and a 12-MMtpa (~1.6 Bcf/d) proposal may be sanctioned soon.
Asian customers imported a record amount from LNG Canada in July 2026 after slow arrivals in June.
Over the past couple of years, the Permian has been dominated by one story: natural gas takeaway constraints and negative prices at the Waha Hub. That has changed recently, however, as more pipelines have entered service, and now plans for the Solitude Pipeline System have been unveiled.
Kinetik said its Q2 2026 earnings call that its Permian operations were boosted by structural tailwinds from gassier production, increased natural gas takeaway capacity and surging power demand.
U.S. LNG feedgas demand was relatively consistent last week, with most terminals operating at or near full contracted utilization except for Freeport, where one train is offline for maintenance.
