US natural gas hubs and basis
North American gas trades at close to 200 pricing hubs, and most of them are priced relative to Henry Hub in Erath, Louisiana, the delivery point for NYMEX natural gas futures (EIA, October 2024). The difference between a regional hub and Henry Hub is its basis. Basis is set by how much pipeline capacity connects the hub to supply, how cold or hot the region is, and how full nearby storage is.
curl -H "Authorization: Token YOUR_KEY" \ "https://api.oilpriceapi.com/v1/prices/past_year?by_code=NATURAL_GAS_EASTERN_GAS_SOUTH_USD&interval=daily"Get an API key to pull this series
What is a natural gas hub?
A hub is a place where pipelines interconnect and enough buyers and sellers trade that a price can be observed for gas delivered there. EIA counts close to 200 of them in the integrated North American market, differing in size, liquidity and age, with deals struck for periods from intraday to a full year. Some are physical interconnects, like Henry Hub. Others are citygates, the points where an interstate pipeline hands gas to a local distribution utility, so their price includes the cost of getting gas to a city.
Why do hub prices differ from Henry Hub?
Gas moves by pipeline, and pipelines fill up. When a region needs more gas than its pipelines can bring in, its hub rises above Henry Hub; when a producing region has more gas than its pipelines can take out, its hub falls below. EIA lists the factors as location, seasonal weather, proximity to supply, constraints and bottlenecks, access to substitutes, and infrastructure. The resulting spread is the basis, covered in detail in the basis spreads guide.
- Demand-end premiums. New England relies heavily on gas for winter heating but has limited pipeline capacity, so Algonquin Citygate is most volatile at peak demand (EIA).
- Supply-end discounts. Appalachia produced 29% of US gross gas output in 2023, 37.7 Bcf/d, and its hubs tend to trade below Henry Hub because takeaway pipelines limit how much can leave (EIA). The Permian's Waha hub is the extreme case; see why Waha prices go negative.
- Hubs tied closely to Henry Hub. Chicago Citygate is linked to three pipelines that carry gas from Henry Hub and sits near storage, which damps its volatility (EIA).
The hubs, region by region
| Hub | Region | What it prices | Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Algonquin Citygate | New England | Gas delivered to Boston-area utilities; winter heating peaks on limited pipeline capacity | NATURAL_GAS_ALGONQUIN_USD |
| Transco Zone 6 NY | New York City | Gas delivered off Transco into New York City | NATURAL_GAS_TRANSCO_Z6_NY_USD |
| Tetco M3 | Mid-Atlantic | Gas delivered in Texas Eastern's Market Zone 3 | NATURAL_GAS_TETCO_M3_USD |
| Eastern Gas South | Appalachia | Marcellus and Utica gas at the producing end, formerly Dominion South | NATURAL_GAS_EASTERN_GAS_SOUTH_USD |
| Chicago Citygate | Midwest | Gas delivered to Chicago-area utilities, where seven interstate pipelines meet | NATURAL_GAS_CHICAGO_USD |
| Houston Ship Channel | Texas Gulf Coast | Industrial, power and LNG-adjacent demand around Houston | NATURAL_GAS_HSC_USD |
| SoCal Citygate | Southern California | Gas delivered into the Los Angeles Basin distribution system | NATURAL_GAS_SOCAL_USD |
| PG&E Citygate | Northern California | Gas delivered into the PG&E system | NATURAL_GAS_PGE_CITYGATE_USD |
| Northwest Sumas | Pacific Northwest | Canadian gas at the British Columbia-Washington border | NATURAL_GAS_SUMAS_USD |
Henry Hub itself is NATURAL_GAS_USD; today's price is on the live natural gas page. The Permian hub, Waha, has its own cluster: Permian gas and the Waha hub.
Articles
- What is Algonquin Citygate, and why does New England gas spike in winter? Algonquin Citygate prices gas delivered into New England. Why pipeline limits make it the most volatile US hub in cold weather, and what moves its basis to Henry Hub.
- What is Transco Zone 6 NY? Transco Zone 6 NY prices gas delivered into New York City on the Transco pipeline. Where the zone is, why it swings with weather, and how its basis to Henry Hub behaves.
- What is Tetco M3? Tetco M3 prices gas delivered in Texas Eastern's Market Zone 3, from eastern Pennsylvania to New Jersey and New York. Where it sits, what sets it, and how it relates to Henry Hub.
- What is Eastern Gas South, and why does Appalachian gas trade at a discount? Eastern Gas South, formerly Dominion South, prices Marcellus and Utica gas in southwest Pennsylvania. Why it usually trades below Henry Hub and what narrows the gap.
- What is Chicago Citygate? Chicago Citygate prices gas delivered to the Chicago-area utilities. The pipelines that meet there, why it tracks Henry Hub closely most of the year, and when it breaks away.
- What is SoCal Citygate? SoCal Citygate prices gas delivered into the SoCalGas system around Los Angeles. How pipeline outages, Aliso Canyon storage limits and the gap to SoCal Border have moved it.
- What are PG&E Citygate and Sumas? PG&E Citygate prices gas delivered into northern California; Sumas prices Canadian gas crossing into Washington. How the two West Coast hubs connect and why both can trade far above Henry Hub in cold snaps.
- What is the Houston Ship Channel gas hub? Houston Ship Channel prices gas delivered to the industrial and power load around Houston. Where it sits between Waha and the LNG terminals, and why two published indexes for it differ.
Using the data
- Every hub above is a daily series in $/MMBtu on trading days, requested by code from
/v1/prices/past_year?by_code=CODE&interval=daily. - Basis is the hub minus
NATURAL_GAS_USDon the dates both report. Hubs trade on business days, so match on date rather than assuming the same calendar. - Houston Ship Channel has a second code,
NATURAL_GAS_HSC_DAY_AHEAD_USD, an index for the gas day rather than the trade day. The Houston Ship Channel article explains when to use which.