Natural gas prices at the Permian Basin’s Waha Hub went into negative territory for the fourth time in 2025, according to a May 19 report from Reuters.
Prices at Waha, the trading point for most Permian natural gas, usually fall with the onset of maintenance. According to a post on its website, Kinder Morgan began a turbine exchange at a pump station on the Permian Highway Pipeline on May 13. The maintenance is expected to continue through May 26 and reduce capacity on the line from 2.66 Bcf/d to 2.15 Bcf/d.
Traders said the spot price fell 290% over the weekend, from $0.94/MMBtu on May 16 to negative $1.52/MMBtu on May 19, according to Reuters.
Prices at the Waha hub have fallen below zero four times in 2025, indicating that more natural gas egress will be needed in the basin in the near future. Last year, the 2.5 Bcf/d capacity Matterhorn Express Pipeline began operations in October and continued to ramp up into 2025.
In 2024, Waha prices went into negative territory a record 49 times, according to Reuters.
Two gas egress projects are expected to be completed in 2026. The Blackcomb pipeline, operated by WhiteWater Midstream, will have a capacity of 2.5 Bcf/d. Kinder Morgan is expanding the 2-Bcf/d Gulf Coast Express Pipeline capacity by 570 MMcf/d.
According to an analysis by East Daley Analytics, negative gas prices at the Waha Hub are generally followed by a boost in the ethane supply.
“Producers trapped in the basin faced a stark choice: recover more ethane to cut losses, or lose money on gas production” in 2024, East Daley said in April. The result was that Permian ethane production hit multiple record highs last year.