January Energy Report: Natural Gas Goes Wild

The State of Wyoming’s Economic Analysis Division just released the January 2026 issue of Wyoming Insight, a monthly snapshot that tracks everything from energy prices to business activity. It’s a bit like a weather report for the state’s economy, and this month’s edition gives us plenty to chew on.

Natural Gas Went Nuclear

If you heat your house with natural gas — which, in Wyoming, is basically everyone — last month probably felt expensive. The numbers explain why.

Prices at the national Henry Hub averaged $7.65 per million BTUs in January. That’s not a small uptick. It’s a surge — $3.40 higher than December and $3.51 more than January 2025. A string of brutal winter storms across the country pushed demand through the roof, and natural gas markets reacted exactly the way markets always do: fast and without mercy.

Wyoming’s own Opal Hub saw a bump as well, just not nearly as dramatic. Prices there averaged $3.53/MMBtu, up 45 cents from December. Interestingly, that’s still slightly lower than where Opal prices sat a year ago. In other words, national prices went a little wild; regional prices climbed, but stayed more grounded.

For households and businesses across the state, that gap matters. Wyoming sits in the middle of natural gas country, and local pricing tends to be more stable than the big national benchmarks. Even so, when Henry Hub jumps this hard, nobody escapes the ripple effects.

Oil told a calmer story.

West Texas Intermediate crude averaged $60.04 per barrel in January — a modest increase from December, but still more than 20 percent lower than it was a year ago. That keeps Wyoming’s oil patch in a familiar holding pattern: profitable enough to keep working, not hot enough to spark a frenzy.

Drilling activity reflected that same cautious mood. The state averaged 10 active oil rigs and three gas rigs last month. A year ago there were 12 oil rigs and two gas rigs. It’s not a boom. It’s not a bust. It’s Wyoming doing what Wyoming energy has done for decades — grinding forward one month at a time.

High heating bills, steady rigs, volatile national markets. Just another January in energy country.

If you want to dig into the raw charts and tables yourself, the full Wyoming Insight report lives on the Economic Analysis Division’s website.