By Avi Salzman

The Trump administration is clearing the way for an upsurge in natural gas production and exports, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Monday.

That includes pushing for new gas pipelines in places like Alaska and New England, and approving permits to shop natural gas overseas.

"Drill, baby drill also requires build baby, build," Wright told an energy conference in Houston.

At the conference, known as CERAWeek, Wright signed a permit extension for a liquefied natural gas export terminal in Louisiana known as Delfin, the administration's fourth LNG-related approval in its first 50 days.

Natural-gas prices have risen more than 40% since the end of January.

That's a stark contrast to oil, which has dropped about 10% over the same period because of rising supplies and tepid demand.

On Monday, oil was falling again: West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, was down 0.6% to $66.67 a barrel. Another reason oil has struggled is the threat of tariffs, which could strain supply chains for oil companies and hinder the free flow of crude.

After his speech, Wright told reporters there is disagreement within the administration about tariffs.

"We have, behind closed doors, vigorous debates about tariffs," he said. It's "certainly possible" that tariffs on Canada and Mexico are withdrawn before they are set to go into effect next month.

Natural gas, used for heating and electricity, has risen because of uncommonly cold weather in the U.S. But producers are also benefiting from the administration's support for new projects, which could make natural gas an even more central part of the energy mix in the future.

"Natural gas today supplies 25% of global primary energy and is the fastest-growing source of energy over the last 15 years," Wright said.

In his speech, which often veered into political terrain, Wright took aim at the Biden administration's focus on climate change policy.

"There is simply no physical way that wind, solar and batteries could replace the myriad uses of natural gas," he said.

Other conference attendees also said gas is becoming more central to the energy future.

After previously being considered a "transition fuel" to prepare the world for renewables, natural gas is now becoming "the fuel of choice," said Jack Fusco, CEO of Cheniere Energy, America's largest exporter of LNG.

Fusco said he has noticed that "some of the new forecasts where gas and LNG in particular are not only going to stay flat, but are going to grow significantly over the next few decades."

In a cover story last month, Barron's told investors that natural gas stocks could outperform oil this year because of administration support and fundamental drivers like higher electricity demand and more LNG.

Laura Sanicola contributed reporting.

Write to Avi Salzman at avi.salzman@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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March 10, 2025 13:01 ET (17:01 GMT)

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