The world's biggest natural gas producers ranked by 2025 marketed output in billion cubic metres, with the United States alone supplying a quarter of global supply.
Quick answer: 1. United States, 2. Russia, 3. Iran, 4. China, 5. Canada, 6. Qatar, 7. Australia, 8. Norway, 9. Saudi Arabia, 10. Algeria.
This ranks the ten countries that produced the most natural gas in 2025, measured in billion cubic metres (bcm). The gap at the top is the story: the United States produced roughly 1,116 bcm — more than Russia, Iran and China combined, and about 26% of everything the world pulled out of the ground. Gas production is far more concentrated than oil. These ten countries account for close to three quarters of global output, and the top two alone account for 40%. Figures are from OPEC's Annual Statistical Bulletin, cross-checked against the U.S. Energy Information Administration's International Energy Statistics.
The world's largest gas producer by a factor of nearly two, at roughly 1,116 bcm in 2025 — about 26% of global output. Most of the growth since 2010 has come from shale gas in the Appalachian Basin, which alone produces more gas than any country other than Russia.
Russia produced about 625 bcm in 2025, holding second place despite losing most of its European pipeline market after 2022. Output is dominated by the supergiant fields of the West Siberian basin and the newer Yamal Peninsula developments feeding LNG and Chinese pipeline exports.
At roughly 280 bcm, Iran is the largest producer in the Middle East. Nearly all of it comes from South Pars, the Iranian half of the largest natural gas field on Earth — but sanctions and a lack of LNG capacity mean almost all of that gas is burned domestically rather than exported.
China produced about 256 bcm in 2025 and is still the world's largest gas importer, with domestic output covering only around half of demand. Production is anchored by the tight-gas fields of the Ordos Basin and the shale and conventional gas of the Sichuan Basin.
Canada produced roughly 218 bcm, most of it from the Montney formation straddling British Columbia and Alberta. Historically almost all Canadian gas exports went by pipeline to the United States; the LNG Canada terminal at Kitimat opened a Pacific export route in 2025.
Qatar produced about 212 bcm from the North Field, the other half of the same geological structure as Iran's South Pars. With a population under three million, Qatar exports most of what it produces and is among the two or three largest LNG suppliers in the world.
Australia produced roughly 157 bcm, overwhelmingly from offshore fields on the North West Shelf and in the Carnarvon Basin. Like Qatar, it converts most of its output to LNG for Asian buyers, with domestic consumption taking only a small share.
Norway produced about 125 bcm from the Norwegian continental shelf, and became the single largest pipeline supplier to the European Union after Russian flows collapsed. The Troll field alone accounts for roughly a quarter of national output.
Saudi Arabia produced roughly 111 bcm, almost all of it consumed domestically for power generation and industry rather than exported. The Jafurah unconventional field, the kingdom's largest gas development, is being brought online to displace crude oil currently burned in power plants.
Africa's largest producer at about 105 bcm, Algeria supplies southern Europe through the Transmed and Medgaz pipelines as well as by LNG. Output is centred on Hassi R'Mel, one of the largest gas fields discovered outside the Middle East and in production since 1961.
| # | Name | Production | Share of world output | Region | Main producing basin or field |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 1,116 bcm | 25.7% | North America | Appalachian Basin (Marcellus and Utica shale) |
| 2 | Russia | 625 bcm | 14.4% | Eurasia | West Siberia (Urengoy, Yamburg, Bovanenkovo) |
| 3 | Iran | 280 bcm | 6.5% | Middle East | South Pars field |
| 4 | China | 256 bcm | 5.9% | Asia | Ordos Basin (Sulige) and Sichuan Basin |
| 5 | Canada | 218 bcm | 5.0% | North America | Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (Montney) |
| 6 | Qatar | 212 bcm | 4.9% | Middle East | North Field |
| 7 | Australia | 157 bcm | 3.6% | Asia-Pacific | Carnarvon Basin (North West Shelf, Gorgon) |
| 8 | Norway | 125 bcm | 2.9% | Europe | Troll field, North Sea |
| 9 | Saudi Arabia | 111 bcm | 2.6% | Middle East | Ghawar (associated gas) and Jafurah |
| 10 | Algeria | 105 bcm | 2.4% | Africa | Hassi R'Mel field |
Countries are ranked by total marketed natural gas production for calendar year 2025, expressed in billion cubic metres (bcm). The primary figures are from OPEC's Annual Statistical Bulletin 2026, which reports 2025 data and puts world production at 4,341.5 bcm; share-of-world percentages are calculated against that total. As a cross-check, the ranking was compared against the U.S. Energy Information Administration's International Energy Statistics series for dry natural gas production. The two sources produce an identical top ten in identical order, though the absolute volumes differ by a few percent for some countries — EIA reports dry gas (after extraction of natural gas liquids and removal of non-hydrocarbon impurities), while the marketed figures used here are measured before that processing. Volumes should therefore be read as accurate to roughly the nearest percent, not the nearest cubic metre. The 'main producing basin or field' column names the single largest source of each country's output; it is indicative of where the gas comes from, not an exhaustive account of national production. Flared and reinjected gas is excluded from marketed production by both sources.
The United States, at roughly 1,116 billion cubic metres in 2025 — about 26% of world production, and more than Russia, Iran and China combined. It has held the top spot since overtaking Russia in 2011, driven by shale gas from the Appalachian and Permian basins.
It is the standard international unit for national gas volumes: one billion cubic metres of gas at standard temperature and pressure, roughly 35.3 billion cubic feet. For scale, the European Union consumes around 320 bcm a year, so the United States produces more than three times the EU's total demand.
Mostly because they measure at different points in the chain. 'Marketed production' is counted at the wellhead after flared and reinjected gas is removed; 'dry production' is counted after natural gas liquids and impurities such as CO2 are stripped out, and is therefore a few percent lower. This list uses marketed production. The two measures give the same top ten in the same order.
About 74% of the 4,341 bcm produced globally in 2025. The largest producers just outside the top ten are Malaysia, Turkmenistan, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.
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