The end is nigh
US power sector demand for natural gas is soaring. The glut could be about to end
A steaming hot summer has sent the US power sector's demand for natural gas to record levels, helping to draw down bulging stocks. Last year, gas overtook coal as the country's top fuel for power generation. On 21 July, consumption reached its highest ever daily level, at 40.9bn cubic feet per day. It might be a sign of things to come. Changing weather patterns will also drive US gas consumption higher throughout the coming winter months. El Niño periods have typically been bearish for gas prices because they bring warmer winters to the north and wetter rainy seasons in the west. But la Niña, which follows, usually brings hotter summers in the north. More air conditioning, plus stormier hurr
Also in this section
18 February 2026
With marketable supply unlikely to grow significantly and limited scope for pipeline imports, Brazil is expected to continue relying on LNG to cover supply shortfalls, Ieda Gomes, senior adviser of Brazilian thinktank FGV Energia,
tells Petroleum Economist
17 February 2026
The 25th WPC Energy Congress, taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 26–30 April 2026, will bring together leaders from the political, industrial, financial and technology sectors under the unifying theme “Pathways to an Energy Future for All”
17 February 2026
Siemens Energy has been active in the Kingdom for nearly a century, evolving over that time from a project-based foreign supplier to a locally operating multi-national company with its own domestic supply chain and workforce
17 February 2026
Eni’s chief operating officer for global natural resources, Guido Brusco, takes stock of the company’s key achievements over the past year, and what differentiates its strategy from those of its peers in the LNG sector and beyond
