Fitch Ratings' credit outlook for US natural gas pipelines remains stable as the predominance of capacity-reservation contracts limits any negative effects from commodity price and volume volatility, as discussed in Fitch's US Natural Gas Pipelines Dashboard.
The main risk for natural gas pipelines is recontracting, particularly in light of the compressed basis spreads and shifting US supply/demand dynamics. Fitch notes that most pipeline issuers in its ratings portfolio have medium- to longer term contract expirations, so the risk is more of a longer-term, rather than immediate-term one.
Adapted from press release by Hannah Priestley-Eaton