Published on 2 May 2024 on Zacks via Yahoo Finance

4 Gas Distribution Stocks to Watch in a Prospering Industry

Natural gas distribution companies offer services to transport natural gas from the region of production to millions of consumers across the United States. The utilities under the Zacks Utility Gas Distribution industry control miles of underground pipeline network to provide natural gas services to customers. The rising demand for clean, burning natural gas will create more opportunities for natural gas distribution companies.Sempra Energy SRE, with its widespread transmission and distribution lines, interstate pipelines, and significant investments in infrastructure development projects, is poised to benefit as natural gas production volumes are expected to increase in 2024-2025. Steady investments and expanding infrastructure in crucial production regions should drive the performance of Atmos Energy Corporation ATO, MDU Resources Group MDU and New Jersey Resources Corporation NJR.

About the Industry

The shale revolution has substantially increased natural gas production. Its clean-burning nature steadily boosts the demand for natural gas from all customer groups. Natural gas distribution pipelines are vital in delivering natural gas from intrastate and interstate transmission pipelines to consumers through small-diameter pipelines. The natural gas network in the United States has 2.3 million miles of underground distribution pipelines. Major concerns for the industry are aging infrastructure and rising investment costs required to upgrade and maintain the vast network of pipelines due to the hike in interest rates. Competition from other clean energy sources can lower the demand for natural gas and, consequently, for pipelines.