US data centers could consume more natural gas than Germany and Japan combined by 2035

GARDEN CITY, TX - FEBRUARY 05: Flared natural gas is burned off at Apache Corporations operations at the Deadwood natural gas plant in the Permian Basin on February 5, 2015 in Garden City, Texas. Apache sends an estimated 50-52 million cubic feet per day of natural gas to this plant. As crude oil prices have fallen nearly 60 percent globally, many American communities that became dependent on oil revenue are preparing for hard times. Texas, which benefited from hydraulic fracturing and the shale drilling revolution, tripled its production of oil in the last five years. The Texan economy saw hundreds of billions of dollars come into the state before the global plunge in prices. Across the state drilling budgets are being slashed and companies are notifying workers of upcoming layoffs. According to federal labor statistics, around 300,000 people work in the Texas oil and gas industry, 50 percent more than four years ago. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) | Image Credits:Spencer Platt / Getty Images

Tim De Chant

Tue, September 15, 2026 at 9:29 PM GMT+3 3 min read

The AI race has grown so frenzied that, by 2035, U.S. data centers are projected to consume more natural gas than Germany and Japan combined.

Over the next decade, data centers are expected to be the second-strongest driver of natural gas demand growth after LNG exports. The facilities could consume about 18 billion cubic feet per day, according to a new report from BloombergNEF, nearly double the amount the organization predicted just nine months ago.

The new forecast takes into account that not all announced data center projects will be completed.

Data centers that produce power onsite have grabbed headlines in recent months, with Meta, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon all announcing plans for new natural gas power plants that will bypass the grid. Projects such as these will consume 2.9 billion to 3.4 billion cubic feet per day by 2035. That's about as much as all data centers consume today, including natural gas used to generate power for the grid.

But onsite-powered data centers could represent just a fraction of overall demand growth, according to BloombergNEF.

By the middle of the next decade, grid-connected data centers are predicted to drive an additional 15 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas consumption by the power sector. To put that in context, that's five times more demand growth through 2035 than from all other grid-connected sectors combined.

If that stunning demand growth materializes, it could nudge natural gas prices higher.

Much of today's data center buildout relies on stable natural gas prices, which have prevailed in recent years. But analysts at Noreva think that might be a false hope. The combined impact of the data center boom and rising LNG exports could cause prices to soar. Even if tech companies' balance sheets can bear such a surge, utility ratepayers might not be able to.

Then there's the climate impact.

Burning one cubic foot of natural gas releases the equivalent of 60 grams of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, including extraction, processing, and distribution, according to the IEA. The additional demand from data centers will generate 1 million metric tons more greenhouse gas pollution daily. That's about 12% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions today.

US data centers could consume more natural gas than Germany and Japan combined by 2035

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