“It’s indicative of things to come,” Sid Perkins, managing partner at the brokerage Ion Energy Group, told the WSJ. Natural gas is “going to be taking on the characteristics of a global-macro market, like crude, where global factors will influence what happens to gas.”
The open global markets will be a welcomed sight for U.S. natural gas as the booming shale oil industry has produced a copious amount of natural gas as a by product, contributing to the ongoing natural gas glut that dragged gas prices down to a 17-year low in March.
The U.S. largely exports to Mexico and Canada, countries in the North American Free Trade Agreement. According to the EIA, new pipelines running across the border has helped shipments to Mexico hit an all-time high in August, accounting for almost 6% of total U.S. gas production.
The U.S. is also looking into natural gas shipments to countries like Singapore and South Korea, which also have free trade agreements with the U.S.
However, some observers are worried that a Donald Trump presidency could affect U.S. trade policy with Mexico and slow the rise of gas exports.
For more information on the natgas market, visit our natural gas category.