While the market has been squarely focused on soaring oil prices this year, Chronometer Partners Chief Investment Officer Matthew Smith warns that ignoring the broader energy picture could be a costly mistake. The real opportunity, he argues, lies in natural gas.
Smith’s thesis is straightforward: as an oil crunch and the explosive computing demands of artificial intelligence drive electricity consumption sharply higher, natural gas will quickly become the most practical power source. “Natural gas, which represents over 40% of U.S. power generation, is imminently going to become the most important fuel in the country,” he said. U.S. natural gas exports currently run at about 15 billion cubic feet per day. Smith expects that figure to surge to 35 Bcf per day by the end of 2030, turning today’s supply glut into a deficit of roughly 5 Bcf per day even before the full force of AI demand kicks in. “Gas has lulled everybody to sleep,” he cautioned, “but these structural things start to fall into place in 2027-2028, and we start to draw down meaningfully in the middle of 2028.”
At the same time, the need for AI-driven compute is multiplying. Smith believes demand from hyperscalers could double or even triple from here. Although Henry Hub spot prices have slipped from $3.62 per million BTU in February to $3.15 in June, the relatively subdued volatility in natural gas may be masking a coming re-rating. Against that backdrop, five companies deeply embedded in the natural gas value chain are positioned to benefit directly from the AI power surge.
Williams Companies (WMB) is a pipeline giant that uses its vast infrastructure to deliver natural gas straight to data centers. Many of its pipelines run through regions where AI data centers are proliferating, and because numerous projects simply add capacity along existing routes, permitting is far less cumbersome and timelines are shorter. More importantly, Williams is evolving from a traditional midstream operator into a power provider, building on-site natural gas plants adjacent to data centers — a powerful growth engine that turns pipelines into a direct electricity solution.
Kinder Morgan (KMI) has shed its reputation as a sleepy, conservative stock. The company is betting heavily on AI-fueled demand and is now constructing the $1.7 billion Trident Intrastate Pipeline in Texas, specifically designed to carry enormous volumes of gas to LNG export terminals and data centers. As North America’s largest gas transmission network, moving about 40% of all U.S. natural gas, Kinder Morgan essentially acts as a toll collector: every time a data center consumes power, fees are paid for using its pipelines. Entering 2026, the company’s project backlog exceeds $10 billion, 93% of which is tied to natural gas. Its 2026 EBITDA guidance has been raised to $8.7 billion, and the stock offers a 4.31% dividend yield.
EQT (EQT) , the largest U.S. natural gas producer, has been vocal in positioning gas as the most reliable, scalable, and affordable fuel for the AI revolution. In July, EQT became the exclusive natural gas supplier for a 4.4-gigawatt power facility at the Homer City Energy Campus in Pennsylvania. The company has also acquired Equitrans Midstream and data-center operator EdgeConneX, stitching together control from wellhead to midstream to end-user. With the Mountain Valley Pipeline under its belt and roughly 26 trillion cubic feet of natural gas resources in the Appalachian Basin, EQT is uniquely placed to meet the swelling energy needs of the Southeastern United States.
Baker Hughes (BKR) has transformed from a traditional equipment maker into a full-service energy technology company. In the AI era, it provides critical power and cooling infrastructure to data centers; its NovaLT gas turbines deliver efficient, off-grid electricity directly on site. The company generates substantial free cash flow and has paid dividends for 39 consecutive years.
USA Compression (USAC) occupies an unglamorous but indispensable link in the gas delivery chain: it supplies compression services and equipment to maintain the proper pressure so natural gas flows smoothly through pipelines. Its unique dual-drive technology can switch between an electric motor and a natural gas engine, cutting operating costs, reducing emissions, and ensuring uninterrupted service. As the data-center buildout pulls more gas through the system, USAC’s business scales right along with it — while offering income-focused investors an attractive dividend yield.
Smith’s broader argument for owning natural gas and alternative energy finds support in geopolitics as well. The war in Iran has underlined the vulnerability of global oil supply, with Tehran’s ability to threaten the Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s daily oil passes — delivering a direct financial shock to American consumers. Meanwhile, regardless of how quickly AI evolves, the U.S. electric grid has seen few major upgrades in decades and will need to handle higher power loads. In that context, natural gas, as a domestic workhorse, sits squarely at the intersection of demand, energy security, and investment opportunity.
