{
  "id": 5042713,
  "title": "The U.S. is about to churn out much more natural gas to power AI and to export—and it’s triggering a wave of multibillion-dollar acquisitions",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/02/the-u-s-is-about-to-churn-out-much-more-natural-gas-to-power-ai-and",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-02T07:09:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fortune",
    "slug": "fortune",
    "url": "https://fortune.com/2026/09/02/us-churn-natural-gas-power-ai-export-slew-multibillion-dollar-deals/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The U.S. pipeline industry is undergoing a wave of acquisitions as pipeline giants prepare for increased natural gas production to fuel AI data centers and for export. Two major recent deals highlight the consolidation trend: Tulsa's ONEOK bought Brazos Midstream's Permian Basin assets for $4.42 billion, and Williams acquired Momentum Midstream for $5.5 billion. ONEOK's CEO, Pierce Norton, has emphasized the company's strategy to position itself for the rise of natural gas supply driven by LNG exports and AI data centers. ONEOK is also building a 450-mile Eiger Express Pipeline to move gas from the Permian to Houston, expected to come online in 2028. The growing demand for natural gas is fueled by the booming production in the Permian Basin and Haynesville Shale. This surge in natural gas production, combined with LNG export facilities, could increase U.S. output by 35% by 2050, according to U.S. Department of Energy projections.",
  "summary": "ONEOK bought up Brazos Midstream's Permian Basin gas facilities for over $4.4 billion as the industry consolidates.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}