U.S. natural gas supply and demand will both rise to record highs in 2026, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its Short-Term Energy Outlook on Tuesday.
EIA projected dry gas production will rise from a record 107.7 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2025 to 111.0 bcfd in 2026 and 113.6 bcfd in 2027.
The agency also projected domestic gas consumption will rise from a record 91.9 bcfd in 2025 to 92.1 bcfd in 2026 and 95.0 bcfd in 2027.
The June projections for 2026 were higher than the EIA’s forecast in May of 110.6 bcfd for production and 91.2 bcfd for demand.
The agency forecast average U.S. liquefied natural gas exports would rise from a record 15.1 bcfd in 2025 to 17.2 bcfd in 2026 and 18.6 bcfd in 2027.
With power generators expected to burn less coal in coming years, the EIA projected U.S. coal production would drop from a two-year high of 528.4 million short tons in 2025 to 518.4 million tons in 2026 and 496.8 million tons in 2027, the lowest since 1963.
EIA projected carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels would decline from a three-year high of 4.904 billion metric tons in 2025 to 4.818 billion metric tons in 2026 as oil and coal use decreases, before edging up to 4.837 billion metric tons in 2027 as gas use increases.
(Reporting by Scott DiSavino Editing by Nick Zieminski)