INGAA Study Sees $162B Pipeline Buildout Need Through 2037

INGAA Study Sees $162B Pipeline Buildout Need Through 2037

The US and Canada will need 25.25 bcfd of new natural gas pipeline capacity between 2028 and 2037 to keep pace with energy demand, Oil & Gas Journal reports, citing a new study from the INGAA Foundation, the research arm of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America.

Market Impact

The report, INGAA’s 2025 North American Midstream Infrastructure Report, projects that meeting base-case demand will require 13,273 miles of new pipeline at a cost of about $162.4 billion over the decade. Under a low-carbon scenario, capacity needs drop to 21.04 bcfd. A significant driver is gas-fired power generation for data centers, with the US Department of Energy projecting electricity demand from that sector to nearly triple to about 800 TWh/year by 2052.

The study identifies the Mid-Atlantic (2,395 miles), West South Central (1,961 miles), the Mountain region (1,946 miles), and Texas (1,847 miles) as the regions needing the most new pipeline capacity in the near to mid-term. Separately, the report forecasts $81.6 billion in needed LNG export plant investment and $55.3 billion for oil pipelines during the same 2028-37 window, with LNG exports cited as the single largest source of incremental gas demand, expected to triple by 2050.

Looking further out, INGAA projects the US and Canada will need more than $1 trillion in total midstream capital investment through 2052, averaging $40 billion to $48 billion annually across natural gas, oil, natural gas liquids, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide infrastructure. That includes at least 37,000 miles of new gas transmission pipeline, about 33,800 miles of it in the US, plus roughly 103,000 miles of new gas-gathering lines. “Meeting energy demand is a critical challenge right now,” said Hebe Shaw, executive director of the INGAA Foundation, noting the report “quantifies the necessary midstream infrastructure and corresponding development dollars” and that investment “must begin now to ensure a safe, reliable, and affordable energy system.”

What It Means for Subcontractors

• Pipeline welders, coating crews, and HDD contractors should position for work concentrated in the Mid-Atlantic (2,395 miles), West South Central (1,961 miles), the Mountain region (1,946 miles), and Texas (1,847 miles) as the 2028-37 buildout begins.
• Compressor station subs and E&I contractors should factor a 10-year, $162.4 billion gas transmission investment window into equipment and crew planning, since the timeline runs through 2037.
• Firms bidding LNG-adjacent work, mechanical, civil, or electrical, should track the $81.6 billion LNG export facility investment figure as a near-term procurement signal separate from pipeline packages.
• Gathering-line contractors should note the longer-horizon estimate of roughly 103,000 miles of new gas-gathering pipeline through 2052, which points to sustained upstream-connection work well beyond the current decade.
• Companies scaling workforce or fleet capacity should benchmark against the report’s $40 billion to $48 billion annual midstream capital investment average, a figure useful for multi-year hiring and equipment financing decisions.