US natural gas gross withdrawals hit an all-time high of 137 billion cubic feet per day in July 2026, driven primarily by the Permian Basin. The same month, the US exported 827 Bcf of natural gas while importing just 244 Bcf, the highest daily export rate and lowest daily import rate for any July on record.
Natural Gas Supply in America 2026
US natural gas supply reached a genuine turning point in 2026: production climbed to levels never recorded before, exports surged to new highs, and imports from Canada fell to their lowest point for the month in five years. The Energy Information Administration confirmed in its October 2026 Natural Gas Monthly report that gross withdrawals, the total volume of gas extracted at the wellhead, reached 137 Bcf/d in July, the first new monthly production record of 2026 after five separate records were set across 2025.
This report walks through the verified numbers behind that record: where the new production is coming from, how much natural gas the US now exports as both pipeline gas and LNG, how dependent the country remains on Canadian pipeline imports, and what the government’s own forecasts say about where supply is headed through 2027. Every figure below comes directly from the EIA’s Natural Gas Monthly, its Short-Term Energy Outlook, or the Department of Energy’s Natural Gas Imports and Exports Monthly Report, not from independent estimates.
The timing of this record matters as much as the number itself. July’s 137 Bcf/d mark came after a quiet start to 2026, with no new monthly production record set in the first half of the year following five consecutive records across 2025. That pause, followed by a fresh all-time high, suggests the underlying growth trend in US gas output hasn’t leveled off so much as moved in fits and starts tied to specific pipeline and well-completion milestones, exactly the kind of infrastructure-dependent growth pattern this report traces in detail below.
Interesting Facts About Natural Gas Supply in the US 2026
US NATURAL GAS GROSS WITHDRAWALS, RECENT RECORDS (Bcf/d)
2010 ██████████ ~70 Bcf/d
2020 █████████████ ~90 Bcf/d
Jul 2026 (record) ████████████████████ 137 Bcf/d
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Record gross withdrawals, July 2026 | 137 Bcf/d |
| Monthly production records set in 2025 | 5 |
| Driver of the July 2026 record | New wells in the Permian Basin (Texas and New Mexico) |
| July 2026 consumption | 89.55 Bcf/d, up 2.1% from July 2025 |
| July 2026 total exports | 827 Bcf (26.68 Bcf/d) |
| July 2026 total imports | 244 Bcf (7.87 Bcf/d), lowest for July since 2021 |
| July 2026 LNG exports | 16.74 Bcf/d to 36 countries |
| 2025 global LNG export share, US | 26%, the largest of any country |
Source: US Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas Monthly, September/October 2026 editions.
The 137 Bcf/d July 2026 record wasn’t driven by one isolated event; it capped a sustained climb that saw five separate monthly records set across 2025 alone, each tied to the same underlying driver: new wells coming online in the Permian Basin, now experiencing increased gas-to-oil ratios as drilling activity concentrates there. Texas and New Mexico combined added 1.7 Bcf/d, a 3.2% jump, between June and July 2026 alone, while Louisiana, Oklahoma, and North Dakota each contributed smaller gains of more than 0.1 Bcf/d.
That same month, the trade picture moved just as decisively: the US exported 827 Bcf of natural gas in July while importing only 244 Bcf, a export-to-import ratio of better than three to one. The 26.68 Bcf/d export rate was the highest ever recorded for any July since the EIA began tracking natural gas exports in 1973, while the 7.87 Bcf/d import rate was the lowest for the month since 2021, a combination that pushed net exports to 18.81 Bcf/d for the month.
US Natural Gas Production Records by Type in 2026
JULY 2026 PRODUCTION RECORDS BY MEASUREMENT TYPE
Gross withdrawals ████████████████████ 137 Bcf/d (record)
Marketed production ████████████████████ record (all-time high)
Dry gas production ████████████████████ record (all-time high)
| Production Measure | Definition | July 2026 Status |
|---|---|---|
| Gross withdrawals | Full well-stream volume from oil and gas wells | 137 Bcf/d, all-time record |
| Marketed production | Gross withdrawals minus repressuring, venting/flaring, and non-hydrocarbon gas removal | All-time record |
| Dry production | Consumer-grade gas, excludes natural gas plant liquids | All-time record |
| Principal driver region | Permian Basin (west Texas, eastern New Mexico) | Leading contributor |
| Secondary contributing states | Louisiana, Oklahoma, North Dakota | Each up 0.1+ Bcf/d |
Source: US Energy Information Administration, “U.S. natural gas production reached a record high in July 2026,” October 2, 2026.
The EIA tracks natural gas production through three distinct measures, and July 2026 set records across all three simultaneously: gross withdrawals, marketed production, and dry gas production. That’s a meaningful distinction because gross withdrawals include gas later used for repressuring wells or lost to venting and flaring, so a record in gross withdrawals alone doesn’t guarantee a record in the gas that actually reaches consumers. July 2026 cleared that higher bar on all fronts.
This three-way confirmation matters for interpreting the headline number correctly. A single record in gross withdrawals could theoretically reflect more gas being flared or used for well operations rather than genuinely higher usable output, but when marketed production and dry gas production, the two measures that strip out exactly that kind of non-consumer gas, also hit records in the same month, it confirms the growth reflects real, deliverable supply rather than an artifact of how the wellhead volume happens to be measured.
The Permian Basin’s role in driving this growth reflects a structural shift in how the region produces gas: much of it now arrives as associated gas, a byproduct of oil drilling rather than gas-directed drilling specifically, meaning rising gas-to-oil ratios in the region’s wells are pushing more gas to the surface even without a corresponding increase in dedicated gas wells. That dynamic has made Permian gas output increasingly difficult to predict using gas-focused drilling metrics alone, since it now tracks oil-market economics as closely as gas-market ones. The same supply growth that is reshaping Permian gas output is also closely tied to the broader oil production trends covered in the top oil and gas companies report, which tracks how Permian-focused operators compare against global producers.
Natural Gas Pipeline Infrastructure and Takeaway Capacity in 2026
NEW 2026 PERMIAN TAKEAWAY PIPELINE CAPACITY
Hugh Brinson Pipeline began interstate flows ahead of schedule, summer 2026
| Infrastructure Development | 2026 Status |
|---|---|
| Hugh Brinson Pipeline | Began interstate flows ahead of schedule, summer 2026 |
| Purpose | Eases long-standing gas transport bottlenecks in Texas |
| Effect on Permian takeaway capacity | Increases capacity to move gas to Gulf Coast LNG terminals |
| Impact observed | Waha natural gas prices extended gains as pipeline advanced |
Source: US Energy Information Administration; Natural Gas Intel reporting, 2026.
New pipeline capacity has been just as important to 2026’s production records as drilling activity itself, since gas trapped without adequate takeaway capacity can’t reach either domestic consumers or export terminals regardless of how much a well produces. The Hugh Brinson Pipeline, which began interstate flows ahead of its original schedule in summer 2026, specifically targets the long-standing bottleneck that had periodically pushed Permian-area gas prices at the Waha hub into negative territory during periods of oversupply relative to available pipeline capacity.
By easing that bottleneck, new pipeline infrastructure like Hugh Brinson doesn’t just help Texas producers sell more gas locally, it directly supports the export growth detailed below, since Gulf Coast LNG terminals depend on exactly this kind of takeaway capacity to keep their liquefaction trains supplied at full volume. The EIA has explicitly tied this pipeline buildout to its forecast for continued production growth through 2027, treating infrastructure capacity as a binding constraint on how much additional Permian gas can realistically reach market even as drilling activity continues expanding.
US Natural Gas Consumption Statistics in 2026
US NATURAL GAS CONSUMPTION, JULY 2025 vs JULY 2026
July 2025 █████████████████ 87.74 Bcf/d
July 2026 ██████████████████ 89.55 Bcf/d (+2.1%)
| Consumption Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| July 2026 total consumption | 2,776 Bcf for the month |
| July 2026 daily average | 89.55 Bcf/d |
| July 2025 daily average (comparison) | 87.74 Bcf/d |
| Year-over-year consumption growth | +2.1% |
| Full-year 2026 consumption forecast | ~91.4 Bcf/d, roughly 1% above 2024 |
| Primary driver of consumption growth | Electric power sector demand |
Source: EIA Natural Gas Monthly, September 2026; EIA Short-Term Energy Outlook.
Domestic natural gas consumption climbed to 89.55 Bcf/d in July 2026, a 2.1% increase from the same month the year before, driven primarily by continued growth in electric power sector demand even as natural gas faces growing competition from renewable generation in several regions. That consumption growth, while real, remains modest compared to the far larger surge in export demand described below, a gap the EIA has specifically flagged in its own forecasting: LNG exports have grown far faster than domestic consumption over the past two years, making exports, not domestic use, the primary driver of overall demand growth for US-produced natural gas.
The full-year 2026 consumption forecast of roughly 91.4 Bcf/d represents only about a 1% increase over 2024 levels, underscoring just how much of the record production described above is being absorbed by growing export volumes rather than rising domestic demand. That pattern marks a meaningful shift from earlier decades of US natural gas development, when growing domestic consumption, not exports, was the primary force pulling new supply to market.
US LNG Export Statistics in 2026
US LNG EXPORTS BY PERIOD (Bcf/d)
2025 full year ███████████████ 15.1 Bcf/d (record, +26% vs 2024)
H1 2026 █████████████████ 17.4 Bcf/d (+23% vs H1 2025)
Mar 2026 (monthly peak) ███████████████████ 18.5 Bcf/d (all-time high)
| LNG Export Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| 2025 full-year LNG exports | 15.1 Bcf/d, up 26% from 2024, a new record |
| US share of global LNG exports, 2025 | 26%, up from 21% in 2024 |
| H1 2026 average LNG exports | 17.4 Bcf/d, up 23% from H1 2025 |
| March 2026 (monthly record) | 18.5 Bcf/d, all-time high |
| July 2026 LNG exports | 16.74 Bcf/d to 36 countries |
| 2026 full-year forecast | 17.0-17.4 Bcf/d |
| 2027 forecast | 18.6-18.7 Bcf/d |
Source: EIA Natural Gas Monthly; EIA Short-Term Energy Outlook, 2026 editions; GIIGNL 2025 annual report.
US LNG exports have grown explosively over the past two years, climbing 26% to a record 15.1 Bcf/d in 2025 and then accelerating further still, averaging 17.4 Bcf/d across the first half of 2026, a 23% jump from the same period in 2025. March 2026 marked the single strongest month on record at 18.5 Bcf/d, a level later matched closely by July’s 16.74 Bcf/d sent to 36 different countries, spanning Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
That growth has reshaped the US’s position in the global LNG market entirely: American exports now account for 26% of worldwide LNG trade, up from 21% just a year earlier, and together with Qatar and Australia, the three largest exporters now supply 63% of all LNG traded globally. New export capacity continues coming online specifically to sustain this trajectory: Corpus Christi Stage 3 started up three additional trains in 2026 adding 0.6 Bcf/d combined, and Golden Pass LNG began bringing its first two trains online, though the facility was still ramping up slowly, exporting less than 0.2 Bcf/d between April and June as it moved through startup. The geopolitical backdrop to this export surge matters too, since a meaningful share of global LNG still depends on maritime chokepoints that have faced recent disruption; the Strait of Hormuz importance statistics report details how roughly 83% of LNG transiting that chokepoint is bound for Asian markets US exporters are now competing directly to serve.
US Natural Gas Imports from Canada in 2026
CANADA PIPELINE IMPORTS TO THE US (Bcf/d)
2025 average █████████████████ 8.6 Bcf/d
2027 forecast ████████████████ 8.0 Bcf/d
| Canada Pipeline Import Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| 2025 average pipeline imports from Canada | 8.6 Bcf/d, up 0.1 Bcf/d from 2024 |
| 2027 forecast | 8.0-8.1 Bcf/d, a modest decline |
| April 2026 single-month imports from Canada | 222.9 Bcf |
| April 2026 net imports from Canada | 147.5 Bcf |
| Reason for projected decline | New Canadian west-coast LNG facilities (2.1 Bcf/d combined capacity) competing for the same supply |
Source: EIA Short-Term Energy Outlook; LNGIndustry.com; Energy.gov, “U.S. Natural Gas Is Supplying Energy to the World,” April 2026 summary.
Canada remains the single largest source of US natural gas imports by a wide margin, averaging 8.6 Bcf/d in pipeline deliveries in 2025, though the EIA expects that figure to decline modestly to roughly 8.0 Bcf/d by 2027. The forecast decline traces to two new LNG export facilities on Canada’s west coast, with a combined 2.1 Bcf/d of capacity, that are expected to pull increasing volumes of Canadian gas toward their own export terminals rather than south across the US border, while growing Appalachian production increasingly covers Northeast US demand that Canadian imports previously served.
LNG imports, by contrast, remain a near-irrelevant part of US supply: the EIA expects them to average just 0.1 Bcf/d through 2026 and 2027, serving only as a marginal winter supply source for New England during periods of extreme cold-weather demand. That tiny import figure stands in sharp contrast to the double-digit export volumes detailed above, a gap that illustrates just how completely the US natural gas trade balance has flipped from a net-importing to an overwhelmingly net-exporting position over the past decade and a half.
Natural Gas Supply and Demand Forecast Through 2027
NET NATURAL GAS EXPORTS FORECAST (Bcf/d)
2026 ███████████████████ 18.7 Bcf/d (+18% vs 2025)
2027 █████████████████████ 20.5 Bcf/d (+10% vs 2026)
| Forecast Metric | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Net natural gas exports (exports minus imports) | 18.7 Bcf/d (+18%) | 20.5 Bcf/d (+10%) |
| LNG exports | 17.0-17.4 Bcf/d | 18.6-18.7 Bcf/d |
| Pipeline exports | 9.8 Bcf/d (+4%) | 10.0 Bcf/d (+2%) |
| Marketed production growth | +2% | +3% |
| Pipeline imports from Canada | 8.1 Bcf/d | 8.0 Bcf/d |
Source: EIA Short-Term Energy Outlook, 2026 editions.
Looking ahead, the EIA forecasts net natural gas exports, total exports minus total imports, will climb 18% to 18.7 Bcf/d in 2026 and a further 10% to 20.5 Bcf/d in 2027, as five separate LNG export projects ramp toward full capacity by the end of 2027. Natural gas pipeline exports, mainly destined for Mexico, are forecast to grow more modestly, up 4% in 2026 and 2% in 2027, a far slower pace than LNG export growth but still a meaningful contributor to the overall export total.
Marketed production itself is expected to keep climbing alongside this export growth, up 2% in 2026 and 3% in 2027 according to the EIA’s own projections, though the agency has cautioned this outlook depends heavily on how much natural gas the electric power sector consumes during peak summer months and how quickly new LNG export capacity actually ramps to full utilization. The agency has also noted that LNG export terminals are expected to run at somewhat higher utilization rates in 2026 than in 2025, despite 2025 already running at relatively high rates, partly because disruptions to LNG shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have increased demand for cargoes sourced from outside that chokepoint, a dynamic that has indirectly boosted demand for US-origin LNG specifically. Even with that uncertainty built in, every major trendline in this report, production, exports, and the shrinking role of Canadian imports, points in the same direction: toward a US natural gas supply system increasingly oriented around serving global export markets rather than purely domestic demand. For the fuller picture of how energy exports fit into America’s overall trade position, the US largest exports report breaks down natural gas alongside crude oil and other energy products in the broader national export portfolio.
Natural Gas Supply FAQs
What was the US natural gas production record in 2026?
137 Bcf/d of gross withdrawals in July 2026, an all-time high, according to the EIA.
What drove the July 2026 natural gas production record?
New wells coming online in the Permian Basin across Texas and New Mexico, which together added 1.7 Bcf/d between June and July 2026.
How much natural gas did the US export in July 2026?
827 Bcf total (26.68 Bcf/d), the highest daily export rate for any July since the EIA began tracking exports in 1973.
How much natural gas did the US import in July 2026?
244 Bcf (7.87 Bcf/d), the lowest daily import rate for July since 2021.
How much LNG did the US export in 2025?
15.1 Bcf/d for the full year, a record, up 26% from 2024.
What share of global LNG exports does the US control?
26% in 2025, up from 21% the year before, making the US the world’s largest LNG exporter.
Is the US still importing natural gas from Canada?
Yes. Canada remains the largest source of US pipeline gas imports, averaging 8.6 Bcf/d in 2025, though that figure is forecast to decline slightly to about 8.0 Bcf/d by 2027.
How much is US natural gas consumption growing?
Modestly: domestic consumption is forecast to grow only about 1% in 2026 compared to 2024, far slower than export growth.
What new LNG export facilities started up in 2026?
Corpus Christi Stage 3 (trains 5-7, 0.6 Bcf/d combined) and the first two trains of Golden Pass LNG (1.4 Bcf/d), both beginning operations during 2026.
What is the US natural gas export forecast for 2027?
Net exports are forecast to reach 20.5 Bcf/d, up 10% from 2026, with LNG exports alone reaching 18.6-18.7 Bcf/d.
Which US states contributed most to the July 2026 production record?
Texas and New Mexico led, with Louisiana, Oklahoma, and North Dakota each contributing smaller gains.
How does US LNG export growth compare to domestic demand growth?
LNG exports have grown far faster, rising double digits annually, while domestic consumption growth has remained in the low single digits.
Disclaimer: The data research report we present here is based on information found from various sources. We are not liable for any financial loss, errors, or damages of any kind that may result from the use of the information herein. We acknowledge that though we try to report accurately, we cannot verify the absolute facts of everything that has been represented.
