U.S. secretary of the interior Doug Burgum (left), and energy secretary Chris Wright speak at Gastech in Milan, Italy on Wednesday, September 10, 2025.
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The U.S is going to double its natural gas exports within five years, according to two of president Donald Trump’s top officials.
Speaking variously over the course of Tuesday and Wednesday at Gastech, in Milan Italy, energy secretary Chris Wright and secretary of the interior Doug Burgum described natural gas as “probably the fastest growing export from the U.S.” and one that’s going places in helping to serve the world’s growing energy needs.
Burgum said natural gas exports would at the heart of the Trump administration’s energy policy, which he described as a force for good, and the primary weapon for the U.S. and its allies in a global “artificial intelligence” race.
“We need to add as much additional natural gas capacity as we can, so that we can lead in AI, and perhaps so can our friends and allies in Europe and Asia. We want our allies to grow their electricity generation capacity [powered by U.S. energy exports]
to also drive progress with AI in their society.”
Wright added: “We will double the natural gas exports from where the are today in the next four or five years.”
Later, speaking at a Gastech keynote session, Wright noted such an expansion is now possible thanks to a “significant policy shift” from the previous Biden administration which had “put a pause on permitting natural gas export terminals.”
“Because if the U.S. produces a lot more energy, as we intend to, the world will see a downward pressure on prices.”
A Reliable, Secure And Stable Partner
The comments from the two top Trump officials come after the European Union pledged to buy $250 billion per year worth of U.S. energy exports, including natural gas, for the next three years in July, as part of a wider trade deal.
The deal has invited skepticism. However, both Wright and Burgum insisted its part of wider, collaborative energy partnership with Europe, and where the U.S. serves as a reliable, secure and stable partner.
The Department of Energy said that over the course of the week secretary Wright had engaged with energy ministers, nuclear and natural gas providers, members of the European Parliament and Commission, and other high-ranking officials “to strengthen long-lasting partnerships and encourage countries to join the U.S. as President [Donald] Trump builds a energy secure and prosperous future.”
At the time of the signing of the deal, a White House spokesperson said the deal would cover oil, liquefied natural gas, coal as well as a nuclear technology exchange, but did not specify whether it also included energy services contracts and parts for European energy infrastructure (e.g. power plants and grids).
Current projections and market models also point to there being more LNG volumes produced than needed. From a supply perspective, the global LNG trade grew by a two million tons in 2024, to hit 407 million tons due to constrained new supply development, according to Shell.
While that marked the lowest annual increase in 10 years, more than 170 million tons of new LNG supply are set to be available by 2030 in service of burgeoning global power demand, the energy major noted in its latest market assessment.
According to Eurostat data, U.S. LNG had a 55% share of the EU market, and 27% of total EU gas imports in the first half of this year.