America is making a ‘freaking fortune’ in an energy crisis

Excess natural gas is burned off at a power plant in Odessa, Texas, on Oct. 15. | Bloomberg

Nov 4, 2026

The Iran war has triggered the largest energy crisis in history, or so the conventional wisdom says. Epochal stuff — but only half-true, because oil is only half the story.

Thanks to the shale revolution and an enviable geological endowment, U.S. and Canadian natural gas consumers are dodging the economic fallout of the Iran conflict. For America, long worried about its reliance on foreign fossil fuels, it’s an embarrassment of riches.

While European and Asian consumers are now paying north of $30 per million British thermal unit for their gas, U.S. buyers pay around $3 per mBtu. Last week, U.S. gas prices briefly touched a two-year low of $2.5 per mBut — in the middle of an energy crisis. Canadian costs are even lower, at about $1.5 per mBtu.

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