Seasonal market outlooks

Mid-continent
NOAA’s latest ENSO forecast (September 11) predicts a weak La Niña with chances decreasing to 54% for December through February.

Why it matters: La Niña often brings colder, wetter winters to the North and warmer, drier winters to the South. A moderate or stronger La Niña could lead to cold snaps in key Midwest cities like Chicago, which could impact natural gas demand and pricing. For example, during a cold snap in early 2025, Southern Star and Panhandle both saw significant premiums over Henry Hub.

With winter around the corner, we’re keeping an eye on:

• Rig count: Gas rigs in major Mid-continent basins are roughly flat at 118 compared to last year.
• Pricing: Per the Energy Information Administration (EIA) September 2025 outlook, historically, average annual prices for gas and oil change in tandem. Industry analysts expect this year will be the first time they move in the opposite direction since 2014. By 2026, natural gas prices are forecast to be nearly double compared with 2024, while the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil price in this outlook falls 38%, leading to the lowest crude oil-to-natural gas price premium since 2005 at just over $4.00/MMBtu.
• Storage levels: According to the September 18 EIA report, working gas in storage was 3,433 Bcf nationally, with Midwest levels below the five-year average but up about 45 Bcf more than this time last year.
• Planned service outages: Southern Star has three planned service outages impacting winter capacity, while ONEOK Gas Transportation (OGT) has one planned outage.

Rockies and West
The weaker La Niña event is expected to bring colder, wetter weather to the Pacific Northwest, and warmer, drier conditions to Southern California and the Rockies.

We’re also keeping our eye on:

• Clay Basin expansion: Williams received FERC authorization in late 2024 with no protests; the expansion added 8 Bcf of working gas capacity, with full service operational since early 2025.
• Storage levels: The Sept. 18 EIA report shows storage below the five-year average in the Mountain and Pacific regions, with Mountain up 40 Bcf and Pacific up 35 Bcf compared to this time last year.
• Planned service outages: Kern has one planned outage impacting winter capacity. Ruby has one planned outage impacting winter capacity. Northwest has no planned outages.

Other: Electricity generation
Per the EIA September report, electricity generation has been growing rapidly this year as a result of growing demand for power from data centers and industrial customers. Industry analysts expect that total U.S. generation by the electric power sector will grow by 2.3% in 2025 and a further 3.0% next year. It is expected that solar power will supply the largest share of the increase in both years.

Spire Midstream attends LDC Gas Forums

Along with other energy industry leaders, Spire Midstream recently attended the LDC Gas Forum Rockies & West in Denver and the LDC Gas Forum Mid-Continent in Chicago. At both conferences, key topics discussed included market-specific forecasts and capacity considerations, as well as how to work collaboratively across the supply chain to address the massive energy demands required by ongoing data center developments.

INGAA tours expanded facility at Spire Storage West 

Spire Midstream recently hosted Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) members for a tour of our recently expanded Clear Creek facility at Spire Storage West in Evanston, Wyoming. With increased capacity, the facility is in an even better position to continue serving as critical natural gas infrastructure for the Western U.S.

Spire Storage West connects to five of the natural gas pipelines serving the Western U.S. - Kern River Gas Transmission, Ruby Pipeline, MountainWest Pipeline, MountainWest Overthrust Pipeline and Northwest Pipeline. In addition, Spire Storage West is located in close proximity to the Opal Hub, a major gas trading hub.

News from Spire

Spire Inc. recently announced it has entered into an agreement with Piedmont Natural Gas, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Duke Energy, to acquire its Tennessee local distribution company business that serves more than 200,000 customers in the Nashville area. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of calendar 2026. During this process, Spire Midstream remains focused on serving our customers and delivering on our commitments, as we have been from the start.

Learn more >

What we’re reading

Fierce Network, Natural Gas Could Be the Energy Hero Data Centers Need: 
Across the U.S., data centers increasingly need additional power to meet demand driven by artificial intelligence. Natural gas continues to emerge as a reliable energy solution for data centers, and some suppliers are responding with on-site power generation. Goldman Sachs predicted the incremental data center power demand in the U.S. will drive around 3.3 billion cubic feet per day of new natural gas demand by 2030 as well as the construction of new pipelines.

We’re here to support you

If you have questions or want to learn more about how Spire Midstream and our services can support you, please contact us:

Storage Commercial: Stephen Heath, 281-703-1312
Midstream Marketing: Annette Anderson, 281-455-4401
New Projects: Laura Kleckley, 205-410-1956
Pipeline Commercial: Cy Zebot, 772-766-4013
Midstream Operations: Scott Smith, 281-381-8912  

For natural gas storage-related services, you can also contact us at storagecommercial@spireenergy.com.