On equal energy terms, oil costs $14.64 per MMBtu at the latest WTI close while US natural gas costs $2.70 — a 5.4× premium for oil's portability. Here's the comparison that explains a century of fuel switching, computed live from the 2026-08-18 closes.
| WTI Crude | Henry Hub Gas | |
|---|---|---|
| Last close | $84.89/bbl | $2.698/MMBtu |
| Price per MMBtu | $14.64 | $2.70 |
| Oil-to-gas ratio | 31.5 (energy parity ≈ 6) | |
| Priced by | Global market | US storage & weather (until LNG links it out) |
| Dominant uses | Transport, petrochemicals | Power, heating, industry, LNG export |
Conversion: 1 barrel ≈ 5.8 MMBtu (see barrel of oil and the energy converter). Live quotes: WTI · natural gas; the export link-up is covered in what is LNG.
US natural gas, by a wide margin. At the latest closes (2026-08-18), WTI works out to $14.64 per MMBtu of energy (at 5.8 MMBtu per barrel) versus $2.70 for Henry Hub gas — oil energy costs about 5.4× more. This is why industries that CAN switch to gas (power, chemicals, heating) largely have.
The WTI price divided by the Henry Hub price: currently about 31 (84.89 ÷ 2.70). Energy parity would be ~6, so a ratio far above that — the norm since shale — means gas is cheap relative to oil. Traders watch the ratio for fuel-switching economics and drilling incentives (high ratio pushes rigs toward oil).
Energy density and infrastructure. Gasoline carries far more energy per unit volume than compressed gas, refueling infrastructure is universal, and vehicles are the one sector where oil's portability advantage is decisive. Gas conquered electricity and industry instead — and reaches transport indirectly, via LNG-fueled ships and gas-derived electricity charging EVs.
Less than they used to. They share supply-side drivers (both often flow from the same wells) and broad demand cycles, but shale broke the old link: US gas is priced by domestic storage and weather, oil by the global market. The 2022 divergence was stark — European gas traded at an oil-equivalent of $400+/bbl while Henry Hub stayed under $10/MMBtu.