NAGF Live: North American Gas Demand with Tina Faraca, Alix Steel

In this special live edition of the Energy Perspectives Podcast, recorded on stage at the 2025 North American Gas Forum in Washington, D.C., Tina Faraca, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Natural Gas Pipelines, at TC Energy, joins Alix Steel, Principal at DrivePath Advisors, to discuss the outlook for natural gas demand across North America.

TC Energy transports roughly 30% of North America's natural gas every day across infrastructure spanning Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. Tina outlines the company's forecast of 45 BCF per day of incremental demand by 2035, the brownfield expansion strategies TC Energy is using to meet near-term growth, and the permitting reforms that will determine whether new pipeline systems get built.

Key Themes:

• The case for natural gas as an essential fuel and an additive approach to energy systems

• Permitting reform across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, including the National Petroleum Council's new framework

• LNG export growth across all three North American coasts

• Brownfield pipeline expansion: compression, looping, and corridor development

Chapters

00:00 Intro from the 2025 North American Gas Forum in Washington

00:23 TC Energy's continent-wide footprint: Canada, U.S., Mexico

01:32 Where permitting stands: signals from Bill C-5, FERC, NEPA, and Plan Mexico

03:17 The hardest part of the job: navigating permitting uncertainty

04:13 News from the floor: TC Energy's National Petroleum Council report on permitting reform

05:39 More optimistic than four years ago: pragmatism and bipartisan recognition of natural gas

06:08 Demand outlook: 45 Bcf/d of incremental demand across North America by 2035

08:44 Utilities vs. behind-the-meter: how TC Energy is serving data center demand

09:33 Natural gas as essential, not transition

10:11 Affordability and the real risk: underbuilding, not overbuilding

11:46 Power generation vs. LNG exports: which demand pull leads

12:11 What's driving the optimism

12:56 Navigating three regulatory frameworks across three countries

14:07 Federal permitting reform and the state-level question

14:39 Brownfield expansion now, greenfield pipelines next

16:01 Don't be complacent: a time-bound window for permitting reform

16:59 Closing thoughts

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