Natural Gas Production Statistics in US 2026 | Key Facts

Natural Gas Production in the US 2026

Natural gas production in the United States has entered a landmark phase in 2026, with federal data confirming the country is on track to set fresh production records that will reshape both domestic energy security and global LNG trade. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the world’s most authoritative energy statistical agency, U.S. marketed natural gas production is forecast to average 120.8 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2026, representing a 2% year-over-year increase from 2025. This trajectory is powered by surging output across three dominant producing basins — the Appalachia, Permian, and Haynesville — and underpinned by rising demand from LNG export terminals, data centers, industrial consumers, and residential heating. The February 2026 Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), released on February 10, 2026, is the single most current government-verified data source available, and the statistics cited throughout this article draw exclusively from that and related EIA publications.

What makes the US natural gas production story in 2026 particularly significant is that it does not exist in isolation. Record exports, strong pricing, a major cold-weather event in January 2026, and new pipeline infrastructure are all converging to define this year’s supply picture. The Henry Hub spot price averaged $7.72/MMBtu in January 2026 — the highest monthly average since September 2022 — following Winter Storm Fern, which simultaneously drove demand to extreme highs and forced temporary production shutdowns. Yet by early February, production had nearly fully recovered. This resilience illustrates how structurally robust the US natural gas production system has become, and why 2026 is being watched closely by energy analysts, policymakers, and exporters worldwide.

Interesting Facts About Natural Gas Production in the US 2026

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) — Short-Term Energy Outlook, February 10, 2026; Natural Gas Monthly, February 6, 2026; Natural Gas Annual 2024, November 2025.

The data above paints a vivid picture of a natural gas sector that has not only fully rebounded from the temporary disruptions of early 2026 but is actively expanding on every measurable dimension. The record November 2025 dry production figure of 110.1 Bcf/d served as the immediate baseline from which EIA built its 2026 forecast, demonstrating that even before any new pipeline capacity came online, production was already hitting historic highs. Meanwhile, figures like the $30.72/MMBtu intraday Henry Hub spike on January 23, 2026, underscore how sensitive this market remains to short-term weather shocks — even as its structural fundamentals grow increasingly robust.

What stands out most sharply from these key natural gas production facts for the US in 2026 is the scale of the LNG export transformation. The United States is now exporting natural gas to 31 countries and has become the single largest LNG exporter on the planet with 15.4 Bcf/d of existing liquefaction capacity. The addition of another 5 Bcf/d across 2025–2026 from Plaquemines LNG and Corpus Christi Stage 3 means that LNG demand alone is now the primary driver of US natural gas production growth — outpacing domestic consumption growth by a wide margin. This represents a structural shift in how the US natural gas market operates, one with significant long-term implications for US natural gas production statistics year over year.

US Natural Gas Production Forecast Statistics in the US 2026

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration — Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), February 10, 2026; Natural Gas Annual 2024, released November 28, 2025.

The US natural gas production forecast for 2026 reflects a measured but meaningful acceleration from the already-record performance of 2024. Dry natural gas production — the cleanest metric of what is actually available for consumption and export after liquids removal — is expected to average 110 Bcf/d in 2026, compared to just over 103 Bcf/d in 2024. That is a gain of roughly 7 Bcf/d in two years, a dramatic increase by any historical standard. Marketed production, which includes natural gas liquids content before processing, is forecast at an even more impressive 120.8 Bcf/d, cementing 2026 as a record-setting year by that measure as well. The price environment is equally striking: Henry Hub is forecast to average $4.31/MMBtu in 2026, nearly double the 2024 annual average of $2.19/MMBtu.

The divergence between domestic consumption and LNG export growth is one of the defining features of US natural gas statistics in 2026. While domestic consumption is expected to grow by only about 1 Bcf/d from 2024 to 2026, LNG exports are on pace to grow by 4.3–4.5 Bcf/d over the same period — more than four times the domestic demand increment. This ratio explains why producers are prioritizing proximity to Gulf Coast export infrastructure when making drilling decisions, and why regions like Haynesville — situated directly adjacent to major LNG terminals — are seeing accelerated investment even at deeper and costlier well depths.

US Natural Gas Production by Region in the US 2026

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration — Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), February 10, 2026; October 2025 STEO; EIA Today in Energy, February 2026.

The regional breakdown of US natural gas production in 2026 reveals a highly concentrated supply base. The Appalachia region — home to the prolific Marcellus and Utica shale formations spanning Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and neighboring states — has been the single largest natural gas producing region in the country for nearly a decade, and that dominance is expected to continue in 2026. With the Mountain Valley Pipeline now fully authorized and operational, Appalachian producers can finally move more gas to market, and the EIA forecasts production there will grow to approximately 37.6 Bcf/d in 2026, a 2% increase from the previous year. Combined with the Permian’s expected 27.6–28.0 Bcf/d and Haynesville’s ~16.1 Bcf/d, these three regions alone are projected to account for roughly 69% of all US natural gas production in 2026.

What is equally important to note is where production is declining. The Gulf of America offshore production is expected to slip from 1.79 Bcf/d in 2024 to 1.64 Bcf/d in 2026, while the Eagle Ford and Bakken regions are also trending modestly lower as oil-directed drilling slows in response to falling crude prices. The Rest of Lower 48 states is also declining in aggregate. This means that virtually all net growth in US natural gas production statistics for 2026 is being generated by just three regions, making their pipeline infrastructure, rig counts, and pricing economics critically important variables to monitor for the remainder of the year.

US Natural Gas Prices and Market Statistics in the US 2026

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration — Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), February 10, 2026; EIA Natural Gas Weekly Update.

Natural gas price statistics in the US in 2026 have been dominated by one extraordinary event: the extreme cold weather driven by Winter Storm Fern in late January, which sent Henry Hub prices to $7.72/MMBtu on a monthly average basis — nearly double December’s $4.26/MMBtu — and created an intraday spike to $30.72/MMBtu on January 23, setting a nominal record at the hub. The spike was sharp but short-lived. Futures prices collapsed sharply in early February as warmer weather forecasts emerged — the March 2026 contract fell 25.7% in a single day on February 2, the largest one-day decline in 30 years, according to Bloomberg data cited by EIA. This kind of volatility is precisely why Henry Hub natural gas pricing commands such close attention from producers, utilities, exporters, and industrial consumers alike.

Looking beyond the January anomaly, the 2026 annual average Henry Hub price forecast of $4.31/MMBtu represents a significant structural shift in US natural gas market conditions. This is nearly double 2024’s annual average and reflects a tighter supply-demand balance created by surging LNG exports. Higher prices, in turn, are incentivizing more drilling — particularly in the Haynesville region, where rig counts rose to 39 in early 2025 and are expected to continue increasing. EIA’s February 2026 STEO explicitly notes that higher natural gas prices will encourage more gas-directed drilling and ultimately lead to higher production than previously forecast through the second half of 2026 and into 2027.

US Natural Gas LNG Export and Storage Statistics 2026

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration — Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), February 10, 2026; Natural Gas Monthly, February 6, 2026; EIA Today in Energy.

LNG exports are the single most important demand-side development in US natural gas statistics for 2026, and no section on the topic would be complete without understanding the scale of what is being built. The United States is already the world’s largest LNG exporter with existing capacity of 15.4 Bcf/d, and is in the process of adding approximately 5 Bcf/d of new liquefaction capacity from projects including Plaquemines LNG Phase 2 and Corpus Christi LNG Stage 3. By 2026, total US LNG exports are forecast at 16.4 Bcf/d, a 36% increase from 2024’s level of 11.9 Bcf/d. This growth in export demand is the primary reason natural gas prices are rising and drilling activity is being redirected toward gas-rich basins like Haynesville. LNG exports now represent the fastest-growing demand category for domestically produced natural gas, far outpacing all domestic sector consumption growth combined.

On the storage side of natural gas statistics in the US in 2026, the winter of 2025–2026 has been defined by exceptionally large withdrawals driven by extreme cold. The 360 Bcf single-week withdrawal ending January 30, 2026 is the largest ever recorded, and total winter draws are now estimated at approximately 2,080 Bcf — 7% above the five-year average. As a result, end-of-season storage is now forecast below 1.9 Tcf, significantly lower than earlier projections. EIA now expects the US to finish the withdrawal season 8% below prior forecasts. This tighter-than-expected storage position is a key reason the February 2026 STEO raised Henry Hub price forecasts for February and March by nearly 40% compared to the January outlook, reinforcing just how interconnected storage, production, weather, and pricing truly are in the US natural gas market in 2026.

US Natural Gas Consumption by Sector Statistics 2026

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration — Natural Gas Monthly, February 6, 2026 (data for November 2025).

The sectoral breakdown of US natural gas consumption in 2026 highlights how diversified demand has become — and why production needs to keep pace. The residential and commercial sectors saw dramatic consumption spikes in late 2025 and early 2026, driven entirely by colder-than-normal winter weather. Residential deliveries in November 2025 jumped 13.3% year-over-year, while commercial deliveries rose 8.6%, both reflecting heating demand that has become increasingly variable as weather patterns shift. Industrial consumption remains strong at 24.6 Bcf/d in November 2025, posting a 1.7% year-over-year gain — one of the highest rates seen for any November in years, reflecting robust manufacturing and industrial output.

The electric power sector stands out as the one segment where natural gas consumption is expected to plateau or dip slightly in 2026, as rising utility-scale solar and wind generation displace some gas-fired power. However, this moderation is being more than offset by the explosion in LNG and pipeline exports, which grew 26.3% year-over-year in November 2025 alone to reach 26.9 Bcf/d. The US exported three times more natural gas than it imported in November 2025, a stark illustration of how dramatically the country’s trade position in natural gas has transformed. With total consumption expected to average around 92.4 Bcf/d in 2026 and exports continuing to climb, the pressure on upstream producers to sustain and grow US natural gas production in 2026 and beyond has never been greater.

US Natural Gas Rig Count and Drilling Statistics 2026

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration — Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), February 10, 2026; Baker Hughes rig count via EIA Natural Gas Weekly Update.

Natural gas drilling activity statistics in the US in 2026 reflect a market at a crossroads between moderating oil-sector investment and accelerating gas-sector opportunity. With the total US rig count at 543 in mid-January 2026 — down 37 rigs year-over-year — the overall drilling environment is somewhat softer than 2024. This is being driven primarily by the oil sector, where falling WTI prices (expected to average $53/bbl in 2026 per EIA) are discouraging new oil-directed wells in regions like the Eagle Ford and Bakken. However, the natural gas rig story is very different. In the Haynesville, where drilling economics are supported by gas prices above $4/MMBtu, rig counts grew by 7 rigs in the first half of 2025 and are forecast to continue increasing through 2026.

What makes the 2026 rig and drilling outlook for US natural gas production particularly nuanced is the role of associated gas. In the Permian Basin, most natural gas is produced as a byproduct of oil-directed wells. Even as oil rig counts remain subdued, the EIA expects gas-to-oil ratios (GOR) to continue rising in the Permian — meaning each barrel of oil being produced is yielding more associated gas than it did a year ago. This geological trend effectively decouples Permian gas production from oil rig counts, allowing Permian natural gas production to reach ~27.6–28.0 Bcf/d in 2026 despite softer oil prices. The Mountain Valley Pipeline, now fully operational after receiving FERC authorization in June 2024, is similarly allowing Appalachian producers to bring gas to market that was previously stranded behind pipeline bottlenecks, supporting the region’s expected +0.3 Bcf/d production increase in 2026.

Disclaimer: This research report is compiled from publicly available sources. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, no representation or warranty, express or implied, is given as to the completeness or reliability of the information. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions, losses, or damages of any kind arising from the use of this report.

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