INGAA CEO Warns Pipeline Growth Lags AI, LNG Demand Surge
Midstream infrastructure is falling behind the pace of gas demand growth from AI data centers, power generation and LNG exports, Natural Gas Intelligence reports, citing comments from Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) CEO Amy Andryszak.
Market Impact
Speaking on NGI’s Hub & Flow podcast with Christopher Lenton, Andryszak laid out the scale of the challenge facing pipeline builders. INGAA estimates that even under a low-carbon scenario, the country will need roughly 25,000 miles of new natural gas pipelines by 2050 to keep pace with demand from data centers, reshoring manufacturers and global LNG buyers. She pointed to regulatory hurdles, ongoing litigation and supply chain delays as the main forces slowing project timelines, a combination that NGI notes is already contributing to price volatility in constrained markets. The discussion also touched on legislative and regulatory reform needs, steel tariffs affecting materials costs, and intense competition for natural gas turbines, all factors Andryszak says are shaping how fast operators can actually get steel in the ground.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- Compressor-station and pipeline construction crews should expect longer lead times on turbines and steel due to tariff pressure and supply chain competition flagged by Andryszak, making early procurement conversations with midstream operators worth pursuing now rather than after bids go out.
- Pipefitting, welding, and E&I contractors bidding on interstate gas projects should factor litigation and permitting delays into schedule assumptions, since INGAA’s 25,000-mile 2050 buildout estimate implies a long runway of staggered awards rather than a single wave.
- Field service firms serving LNG export terminals and gas-fired power plants should track how turbine competition affects project sequencing, since delayed compressor and turbine deliveries can shift subcontract packages later even after a project is greenlit.
- Companies with existing relationships on interstate pipeline systems should use current softness in bid competition to lock multi-year pricing on labor and materials before demand from AI-driven power and LNG projects tightens capacity further.
