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New pipelines helped lift Permian natural gas prices off negative levels
The Waha hub averaged -$2.19 per MMBtu in the first half of 2026, but turned positive in June as Gulf Coast Express Pipeline and Energy Transfer’s Hugh Brinson Pipeline began delivering gas.
OilPrice reports that the Permian basin’s growing associated natural gas output ran into limited pipeline takeaway capacity, leaving producers with few options besides flaring within allowed limits or paying to dispose of gas they view as an undesirable byproduct of crude oil production.
As a result, the regional natural gas benchmark at the Waha hub averaged -$2.19 per million British thermal units in the first half of 2026. The Waha price fell to a record low of -$7.95 at the end of April, more than $10 per MMBtu below the national benchmark at Henry Hub around $2.70 per MMBtu at the time.
The article says the Waha hub price turned positive in June and has remained above zero for more than a month. That improvement followed the start-up of the Gulf Coast Express Pipeline expansion and Energy Transfer’s new Hugh Brinson Pipeline, which began moving gas, though the pipeline capacity is expected to reach full levels only by March 2027.
Latest closeWTI crude $87.52 ▲3.1%|Nat gas $2.883 ▲0.6%