For all the talk about weak weather-driven demand in 2023, a buoyant U.S. economy may complement mounting global energy needs and provide a key pillar of strength for natural gas markets in the form of steady industrial demand in the new year.

Over much of 2023, elevated inflation and the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) aggressive interest rate hikes to tame it loomed large over the economy, generating the specter of a recession that market participants worried would dampen industrial activity and the sector’s energy needs.

But the economy proved resilient, shrugging off the impacts of rates – slower borrowing and lighter investment activity – and industrial natural gas demand proved durable. Industrial consumption of gas in December, for example, has held in a 24-25 Bcf/d...