EIA expects record US natural gas consumption in 2025

In the latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, the EIA expect natural gas consumption to increase across all sectors except for electric power, which had been the source of most natural gas consumption growth in the previous decade.

Natural gas consumption was high in the beginning of the year, driving the forecast. In January, US natural gas consumption was a record 126.8 billion ft³/d, 5% more than the previous record set in January 2024, according to data in the Natural Gas Monthly.

In February 2025, US natural gas consumption was 115.9 billion ft³/d, 5% more than the previous February consumption record set in 2021. Natural gas consumption in these winter months was driven in part by colder weather, including a polar vortex event in mid-January.

US natural gas consumption typically peaks in January or February, when demand for space heating in the residential and commercial sectors is greatest. According to household data from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, 45% of homes use natural gas as their primary heating fuel.

The EIA expect increases in natural gas consumed in the residential and commercial sectors to offset decreases in natural gas consumed in the electric power sector. Currently, the EIA forecast that US natural gas consumption will decrease slightly in 2026, due in part to expected milder weather in the winter months and therefore less consumption in the residential and commercial sectors.

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/26082025/eia-expects-record-us-natural-gas-consumption-in-2025/