Because solar and wind power are intermittent and nuclear reactors take a long time to permit and build, natural gas is expected to be a bridge fuel for some time amid the global push to reduce carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. Although still a fossil fuel, natural gas burns cleaner than coal and can provide consistent baseload power that will only grow in importance as power demand ramps up alongside the electrification of transportation and the expansion of data centers powering electricity-hungry computers running artificial intelligence applications.
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“Natural gas-fired power is cheap, available, relatively clean and gets the job done,” says R. George Pickral, a portfolio manager with Pinnacle Associates. “This is increasingly important for the AI industry, which has massive demand for consistent power.”
Meanwhile, for U.S. gas, exports are important. Natural gas prices are much lower in the U.S. than they are in Europe and Asia, so companies export natural gas in super-chilled liquid form to those destinations, selling to the highest bidder.
Additionally, investors need to pay attention to weather patterns, as colder-than-expected winters or warmer-than-forecast summers can boost demand for the fuel, increase prices and draw down inventories more than expected. The opposite is true, too.
“Despite some milder summer weather and storage surplus taking some of the momentum from natural gas prices recently, supply and demand fundamentals are expected to improve with a storage deficit coming through the winter and growing through 2026,” says Chris Cook, senior equity trader and research analyst with Frost Investment Advisors.
That storage deficit is expected largely due to increased demand growth as U.S. export capacity ramps up along the Gulf Coast, he says.
Growing liquefied natural gas, or LNG, exports aren’t the only draw, Cook adds. “Utilities and new power requirements coming from the boom in AI and data centers have also been relying on natural gas to provide continuous, reliable power generation for new projects,” he says.
With that backdrop in mind, here’s a look at seven natural gas stocks and funds to buy now:
### Solaris Energy Infrastructure Inc. (Ticker: SEI)
This company, which provides mobile natural gas turbines, serves the energy sector, data centers and other commercial and industrial sectors in the U.S. SEI has been outperforming amid “a renewed focus on the power, quantity and quality needed to power the growth of AI data centers,” Pickral says.
“Natural gas is emerging as the most logical choice for the foreseeable future, and SEI’s mobile natural gas turbines can provide near-immediate power availability,” he adds. Pickral notes the company has more demand than it can serve, and its recently improved capital structure has lowered borrowing costs for future growth initiatives.
### Argan Inc. (AGX)
Another company Pickral points to is this firm that builds efficient gas-fired power plants as well as biomass projects, solar facilities, wind farms and waste-to-energy facilities. It also has a telecommunications segment, providing some diversity within its business offerings.
The company’s stock has done well along with the market recently, so Pickral suggests waiting for some market volatility before adding to the position.
As of September, the company had a record backlog of $2 billion of work.
“The ongoing electrification of everything requires an uninterrupted supply of reliable, high-quality energy, and we are a proven partner in constructing the types of large and complex power-generating facilities that are necessary to support the unprecedented growth in power demand,” Argan’s CEO David Watson said in a statement accompanying financial results in September.
### Cheniere Energy Inc. (LNG)
Super-chilled natural gas that can be transported by ship, also known as LNG, is playing a growing role in the natural gas market.
“Natural gas prices are not booming, but we believe natural gas is the fuel of choice for supplemental database power and also for international customers, commercial and governments looking for relatively clean, secure power,” Pickral says.
As a boon to U.S. natural gas companies, the Trump administration lifted a Biden-era moratorium on exporting natural gas to countries that don’t have free-trade agreements with the U.S. That’s especially important for European Union nations that are looking to be less reliant on Russia for natural gas after its invasion of Ukraine.
The U.S. is the biggest natural gas-producing country in the world, and it also exports the most LNG. Cheniere Energy, which operates LNG liquefaction and export facilities, is the biggest U.S. LNG exporter. The company has one of the biggest liquefaction platforms in the world, with facilities in Louisiana and Texas.
### Flex LNG Ltd. (FLNG)
Because there aren’t any natural gas pipelines that span the Atlantic or Pacific oceans, natural gas has to be transported by specialized ships that can load, store and unload the fuel in its cooled liquid form.
Shipping company Flex LNG has more than a dozen modern LNG carriers in its fleet, with most of them chartered on long-term contracts. Those contracts help reduce pricing volatility for the company.
One of the draws to Flex LNG for investors is the company’s sizable dividend, with a massive yield that currently sits at 12.2%.
### Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI)
This company runs major natural gas pipeline and storage systems; natural gas gathering systems and processing and treating facilities; natural gas liquids fractionation facilities and transportation systems; and LNG regasification, liquefaction and storage facilities.
Not to be left behind amid the LNG export boom, the company has long-term contracts to move about 8 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas to LNG facilities, with that amount expected to grow to around 12 billion cubic feet per day by the end of 2028.
“We are also pursuing a substantial number of additional LNG feedgas opportunities,” CEO Kim Dang said in comments accompanying recent financial results.
### First Trust Natural Gas ETF (FCG)
Investors who want to hedge risk among different companies while still investing in a general theme can turn to exchange-traded funds, or ETFs. These investing vehicles trade under a single ticker symbol just like a stock, but they contain investments in many different companies.
The First Trust Natural Gas ETF tracks an index made up of companies that make most of their money from the exploration and production of natural gas. Its expense ratio is 0.57%, or $57 per year for every $10,000 invested.
Investors should note that exploration and production companies are considered cyclical investments because they track the ups and downs of economic cycles. And natural gas prices, like those of other commodities, can be quite volatile.
### United States Natural Gas Fund LP (UNG)
UNG is a different type of fund. It doesn’t hold a basket of equities under a single ticker symbol. Rather, it tracks natural gas price movements based on benchmark Henry Hub futures.
Henry Hub is a natural gas pipeline network in Louisiana that serves as a distribution hub for major natural gas markets. Prices there are considered the benchmark for the U.S. natural gas market.
Investing in natural gas as a commodity means investors aren’t making bets on production company management teams or other company-specific factors. It’s also much less of a hassle to buy this fund than it is to trade futures contracts, but investors should also understand that it isn’t designed to be held for long periods.
UNG doesn’t take delivery of natural gas. Instead, it rolls over futures contracts. Because futures contracts that expire farther out are often more expensive than the one the fund is holding, the fund loses money on that rollover.
That doesn’t mean it’s a bad fund; it just means it is designed for expressing views about whether natural gas prices will rise or fall over short periods. You may not want to hold it for longer than one day. This fund has a rather high expense ratio of 1.24%.
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**7 Best Natural Gas Stocks and Funds to Buy** originally appeared on usnews.com
*Update 10/17/25: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.*
https://wtop.com/news/2025/10/7-best-natural-gas-stocks-and-funds-to-buy-5/