Process Engineer - Process

Forget LNG exporters: EQT is the natural gas stock I'd buy today. EQT offers more than just exposure to the growing global LNG market. By Matt DiLallo - Sep 28, 2026 at 11:15AM EST Key points. * LNG projects are expensive to build, which leads developers to lock in long-term capacity contracts. * EQT is the country's only large-scale integrated gas producer. * It has signed LNG contracts and agreements to supply gas to AI power projects. * Motley Fool Issues Rare "Total Conviction" Buy Alert" I'd buy EQT Corp (EQT -1.62%) over a liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter right now, as it provides export exposure and upside to the AI power megatrend. The gas producer offers greater upside potential because it isn't fully capping its ability to capitalize on higher prices, unlike many other LNG stocks. What's the difference between a gas producer and an LNG exporter? LNG exporters build and operate massive liquefaction and export terminals to turn natural gas into a liquid for transport on specialized gas-carrying ships. These facilities are costly to build and take years to complete. For example, leading U.S. LNG export terminal developer Cheniere Energy (LNG +0.98%) has already invested $50 billion to develop two LNG export terminals along the U.S. Gulf Coast. It took the company four years to build the first two liquefaction trains at its Sabine Pass LNG facility and three years to begin production at its Corpus Christi Liquefaction facility. It's continuing to invest capital to expand both facilities to support growing global LNG demand. LNG terminal operators typically sell most of their volumes under long-term contracts, locking in pricing. For example, Cheniere expects to produce 53 to 54 million tonnes of LNG this year, with 46 to 47 million tonnes locked in under long-term contracts. LNG developers generally pre-sell the bulk of their planned capacity before starting construction because it provides the revenue predictability needed to finance these large projects. Cheniere Energy Premium Feature Moneyball Superscore Today's Change ( 0.98 %) $ 2.62 Current Price Key data points. Market Cap Day's Range $ 269.99 - $ 273.42 52wk Range $ 186.20 - $ 300.89 Gross Margin Dividend Yield Meanwhile, natural gas producers extract gas from the ground and sell it at the prevailing market price. Many gas producers aim to secure access to premium gas markets (U.S. Gulf Coast or global) by reserving capacity on large-scale gas transmission pipelines or at LNG export terminals. Does EQT benefit from LNG exports without investing in terminals? EQT is the country's only large-scale, integrated natural gas producer. It owns significant midstream infrastructure, including an interest in the large-scale Mountain Valley Pipeline. That pipeline transports gas to premium markets along the East Coast, where it can connect to pipelines shipping gas to the Gulf Coast, the home to most of the country's LNG export capacity. Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare signal is flashing again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. If you'd invested $5,000 then, you'd be sitting on $2,925,679 today.* Now, for the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. It's a key player in the $1.8 trillion space race, and with the stock recently sitting 20% off its highs, the window to get in early is closing fast. *Stock Advisor returns as of September 28, 2026. Premium Feature Moneyball Superscore Today's Change ( -1.62 %) $ -0.83 Current Price Market Cap Day's Range $ 49.72 - $ 50.72 52wk Range $ 47.94 - $ 68.24 Gross Margin Dividend Yield While EQT hasn't invested directly in an LNG export terminal, it has signed capacity deals for several LNG export projects. It most recently signed a 5-year offtake agreement with a large Asian integrated energy company for 0.5 million tons of LNG per year sourced from several Gulf Coast LNG facilities starting in 2028. That deal alone should boost its 2028 free cash flow by $45 million, based on recent gas prices. From 2030 onward, EQT expects international pricing exposure for 10% to 15% of its volumes based on its current LNG contracts. What are the different risk factors facing EQT and LNG exporters? One of EQT's biggest risk factors is natural gas price volatility. Changes in supply and demand can meaningfully impact gas prices, affecting EQT's profitability. For example, its 2026 cash-flow breakeven level is around $2 per MMBtu. The company offsets some of this volatility by hedging a portion of its volume, which can cap its upside while providing a pricing floor. However, thanks to its integration and low-cost business model, EQT has peer-leading free cash flow durability. At $2.75 per MMBtu, EQT would generate about $10 billion in cumulative free cash flow through 2030, whereas many of its peers are near or below their breakeven point at that price. The long-term contracts underpinning most LNG export terminals help insulate them from price volatility. However, these companies still face risks, including permitting, construction, and financing risk. Permitting and market issues led to a series of delays and setbacks for Energy Transfer (ET -0.35%) as it tried to develop Lake Charles LNG. Energy Transfer ultimately decided to suspend further development of that project earlier this year because its growing backlog of gas pipeline projects offered superior risk/return profiles. The company had spent at least $350 million on developing the project and secured significant offtake deals, including a 20-year, 1 million tonnes per year agreement with EQT. Why EQT is the best natural gas stock to buy. LNG operators offer lower-risk exposure to growing global gas demand, as long-term contracts lock in project economics. EQT has more upside exposure to that market and the overall growth in gas demand. It has also signed deals to supply gas to power producers, capitalizing on AI-driven electricity demand (it recently signed a 10-year deal to supply gas to a power project in West Virginia at a meaningful uplift to local pricing). I think EQT's combination of a lower risk profile compared to other U.S. gas producers and its exposure to both the LNG and AI power markets makes it the best natural gas stock to buy. Could EQT help you build long-term wealth? Before you buy stock in EQT, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now... and EQT wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of its recommendation, you'd have $383,680!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of its recommendation, you'd have $1,382,954!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 937% - a market-crushing outperformance compared to 214% for the S&P 500. 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Regulator finalizes Sabine Pass LNG expansion environmental study. Alton Wallace Updated Mon, September 28, 2026 at 10:47 AM PDT * Federal regulators have issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement for Cheniere Energy's proposed expansion of the Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana, which could add 19.5 million tons of production at the nation's largest LNG export plant. (The Center Square) - Federal regulators have issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement for Cheniere Energy's proposed expansion of the Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana, a project that could add a massive 19.5 million tons of production at the nation's largest liquified natural gas export plant. Houston-based Cheniere, which now produces about 30 million tons of LNG a year at the Cameron Parish export facility, seeks to construct three new liquefaction trains and build a 55.6-mile pipeline system that would be fed by gas fields in Louisiana and Texas. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission determined the Sabine Pass Stage V expansion would result in "limited environmental effects" that are mostly temporary or short-term during construction. Cheniere and its contractors are required to minimize these environmental effects to "less-than-significant levels" through specific mitigation measures. Previously, the federal regulator concluded in a draft review released in April that the eastern black rail, a federally threatened marsh bird that nests along the Gulf Coast, is "likely to be adversely affected" by the expansion project. Environmental groups like Healthy Gulf have objected to the expansion project, citing the long-term impacts of Cheniere's Sabine Pass combined with other large-scale industrial facilities on Louisiana's coastal wetlands and marine ecosystems. The number of LNG carriers sailing through the Gulf of Mexico and Sabine Pass Ship Channel would surge from 580 to 740 per year if the project is completed, according to the regulatory filing. Consumer interest advocates such as Public Citizen and the Industrial Energy Consumers of America formally protested the Sabine Pass Stage V expansion project, arguing that exporting large volumes of natural gas produced in the United States to overseas markets reduces domestic supply, increasing utility bills for American households. According to Cheniere's application, the company expects to begin construction in late 2026 and to start initial operations by 2030.