Increased industrial energy use, coupled with strong ongoing demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, could more than offset a gradual rise in production and drive U.S. natural gas prices this year well above the level at which they finished a pandemic-plagued 2020, according to industry experts.

Henry Hub Jan 8

A similarly bullish outlook can be expected for Mexico, where gas prices tend to move in lockstep with U.S. benchmarks because of Mexico’s growing reliance on pipeline imports from north of the border. 

Analysts at Raymond James and Associates Inc. estimated U.S. gas futures could reach $4.00/MMBtu by the end of 2021. While residential demand held up last year amid the elevated work-from-home levels imposed in response to virus outbreaks, commercial and industrial demand...