*Pandemic Problems Related to Forecasting Natural Gas Consumption DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.99276*

Natural gas prices at the Henry Hub [4], which are a reference for U.S. natural gas prices, show that natural gas prices for the pandemic period are the lowest. **Table 1** shows forecasts using neural networks indicate that natural gas prices will increase. **Table 2** also indicates that natural gas supplies will be on an increasing trend. At the same time, **Table 3** shows that residential natural gas prices increased in 2020 due to higher residential natural gas consumption caused by remote work and being at home. In 2021, the price of natural gas is forecast to rise because the industrial economy is poised to recover.

The pandemic also reduced the supply of gaseous fuel, regardless of the type of supply chain. Coronavirus completely impacted overall natural gas consumption. The forecast for 2021 gas fuel supplies do not represent a sharp rebound. The forecast is for an increasing, fairly moderate trend.

The natural gas consumption forecast for 2021 is interesting. For the residential sector, commercial sector the trend is upward, while natural gas consumption by the electric power sector is forecast to decline, which may be due to the growth of the renewables industry and the increased interest in this energy source by this industry.

Data shows, natural gas in the residential sector, consuming natural gas for space heating, water heating, air conditioning, lighting, refrigeration, cooking and the use of many other appliances will continue to be important in the energy industry. In addition data shows that natural gas will play an important role in the industry's recovery. It will continue to be used to heat and cool processes and power machinery (**Table 4**) [5].


#### **Table 2.**

*Supply (billion cubic feet per day).*


#### **Table 3.**

*Consumption (billion cubic feet per day).*


#### **Table 4.**

*Primary assumptions (percent change from previous year).*

Baseline assumptions (percentage change from previous year) show that Natural-gas-weighted Industrial Production will be increasing compared to 2020.
