Reform UK leader Nigel Farage stated in a BBC Breakfast interview on Wednesday that “most of our gas now comes from Montana in the (US) Midwest.” This is not the first time he has made a similar assertion; earlier in April he claimed: “Most of the gas we currently import comes from Montana.”
Evaluation of the Claim
An examination of official data reveals that the United States is only the third largest source of the United Kingdom’s gas supply, and the second largest foreign supplier. However, the US is the largest supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is transported by ship rather than pipeline. It remains unclear why Mr. Farage specifically mentioned Montana, as the state is not a major gas-producing region.
The Facts Behind the Numbers
Provisional data for 2025 indicates that the UK’s domestic gas production amounted to 332,444 gigawatt hours (GWh). The country imported a total of 463,692 GWh of gas, of which 320,249 GWh came from Norway and 104,360 GWh originated from the United States. All gas imported from the US was LNG, making the US the UK’s primary LNG supplier.
Regarding Montana specifically, data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) for 2024 shows that the US produced 37.7 trillion cubic feet of dry gas. Montana accounted for approximately 40.0 billion cubic feet, representing just 0.1% of total US production. Furthermore, Montana’s gas consumption exceeded its production, though a “significant portion” of the state’s output is exported, according to a 2023 report from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.
US Census Bureau data for 2025 reveals that the US exported $2.8 billion worth of natural gas to the UK, originating from four states: Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, and Texas. Notably, Montana exported only $525,083 worth of natural gas in 2025, all of which went to Canada. The Census Bureau does not classify Montana as part of the Midwest region.
A 2021 report from the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Trade highlighted that Montana’s main exports to the UK in 2019 were electrical equipment, basic chemicals, navigational instruments, aerospace products, and machinery, with no mention of natural gas.
