NATGAS
BTM datacenter buildout drives structural natural gas demand as the only scalable firm dispatchable fuel for AI infrastructure, with TAM crossing 50GW/yr by 2029.
Hormuz closure traps Qatar LNG exports in the Gulf, cutting global nat gas supply as the world's largest LNG chokepoint goes dark
Hormuz closure blocks Persian Gulf LNG exports, removing a major share of global gas supply and driving prices higher.
Hormuz LNG bottleneck deepens as Iran mandates a single restricted corridor, pressuring global natural gas supply
Strait of Hormuz reopening restores 20% of global LNG flows blocked since February, adding supply pressure to natural gas prices.
The non-obvious asymmetry: the US is a net gas exporter, so Hormuz closure raises global LNG prices and benefits US producers while punishing Europe and Asia. Baker is framing this as a competitiveness tailwind for US industry, not just a commodity trade.
Data centers, robots and reindustrialization all pull on power, and gas is the marginal fuel that clears the gap.
Europe pays higher LNG spot prices as Mideast capacity it relied on goes offline
Power-hungry AI data centers can't wait years for grid hookups, so they burn natural gas now, lifting US gas demand.