Trade Group Calls for 140,000 Miles of New Natural Gas Pipelines

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Written by Will Ploch, Assistant Editor-in-Chief for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land, Texas)

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Summary

The INGAA Foundation believes rising demand means the next 25 years will require a substantial buildout of transmission and gathering capacity in the U.S. and Canada.

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A 'Foundational Component' of Energy

Through 2052, the U.S. and Canada will require more than $1 trillion in new midstream capital investment to meet projected demand for natural gas and other products, according to a report issued by the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA). The INGAA Foundation's 2025 North American Midstream Infrastructure Report is calling for about 140,000 miles of new transmission and gathering pipelines for natural gas over the next 25 years. Industrial Info is tracking more than $65 billion worth of active and proposed pipeline projects for natural gas in the U.S. and Canada.

The report also considered how much capacity would be needed for natural gas liquid (NGL), oil, hydrogen and carbon-capture efforts. Experts from the University of Houston, Wood Group and Canada-based ESMIA Consultants conducted the research and analysis.

The authors modeled outcomes under two scenarios: a "Reference Case" in which federal, state and provincial authorities would maintain policies that were current as of April 1, 2025, and a "Low-Carbon Scenario" in which more aggressive efforts to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) would be adopted in North America and worldwide.

"The report finds that natural gas remains a foundational component of the North American energy system under both scenarios," INGAA said in a press release. "Rising electricity demand, particularly from data centers, along with continued growth in liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, drives the need for significant infrastructure expansion."

The bulk of new capacity needed--about 103,000 of the 140,000 miles the INGAA proposes--would be for gas-gathering pipelines, which connect upstream producers, such as natural gas fields, to gas-processing facilities and long-haul transmission systems.

Examples of such projects being tracked by Industrial Info include Targa Resources Corporation's Apex Pipeline from Midland County to Jefferson County, Texas, which is designed to carry up to 2 billion cubic feet per day about 563 miles, from the Permian Basin to downstream facilities on the Texas Gulf Coast.

Construction on the Apex Pipeline is set to begin this summer and run through the third quarter of 2027. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Oil & Gas Pipeline Project Database can learn more about Apex--including key components, investment values and necessary equipment--from a detailed project report and Industrial Info's January 19, 2026, article - Targa Expands Permian Footprint with Acquisition, New Pipeline.

INGAA noted that the Permian Basin, "while primarily an oil play, is a major source of associated gas," which is natural gas produced alongside crude oil. The production of associated natural gas in the Permian reached about 12.5 billion cubic feet per day in 2024, an 8% increase over 2023, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

By the Numbers

• More than $1 trillion: Total investment INGAA wants to see in new pipelines for natural gas and other product, through 2052
• Up to 48.64 trillion cubic feet per year: INGAA's prediction for annual pipeline-quality natural gas production within the U.S. by 2050
• More than $70 billion: Total investment in pipeline projects for natural gas across the U.S. and Canada, according to Industrial Info

U.S. Gas to Grow, Oil to Peak

The remaining 37,000 miles of new capacity proposed by INGAA would be for gas-transmission pipelines, which move processed gas from processing plants or storage facilities to local distributors or end-users.

Industrial Info is tracking examples of such projects nearing construction, including Equitrans Midstream Corporation's MVP Southgate Amendment Project in Virginia, which would expand the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline by adding a 31-mile stretch from Chatham, Virginia, to the state's border near Rockingham, North Carolina.

The MVP Southgate project is set to begin construction in the third quarter of 2026 and to wrap up toward the end of 2027. Subscribers can learn more from a detailed project report.

In its Reference Case, INGAA predicts annual pipeline-quality natural gas production within the U.S. will grow from 36.43 trillion cubic feet per year in 2022 to 48.64 trillion by 2050. Even in the more conservative Low-Carbon Scenario, it would reach an average 44.42 trillion cubic feet per year over the same period.

Crude oil is a different story. As with other industry groups that have performed similar analyses in recent years, INGAA believes oil production will peak in 2030 at 13.09 million or 13 million barrels per day (BBL/d) in the Reference and Low-Carbon outlooks, respectively, from 11.8 million in 2022. Average production then would tumble to 10.91 million or 10.45 million BBL/d in 2050.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can click here for a full list of detailed reports for active and proposed pipeline projects for natural gas in the U.S. and Canada, and can click here for a list limited to those Industrial Info believes have a high likelihood (81% or more) of beginning construction as scheduled.

Key Takeaways

• INGAA is calling for about 140,000 miles of new U.S. and Canadian natural gas pipelines before 2052.
• About 103,000 miles would be for gas-gathering pipelines, while the remainder would be for gas transmission.
• INGAA also predicts U.S. crude oil production will peak at about 13 million BBL/d in 2030.

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About IIR News Intelligence
IIR News Intelligence is a trusted source of news for the industrial process and energy markets, powered by Industrial Info Resources' Global Market Intelligence (GMI).

About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR News Intelligence) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 250,000 current and future projects worth $30.2 trillion (USD).