Fossil Fuel Companies Bet Big on Data Centers

The artificial intelligence boom is giving fossil fuel companies a new industry to sell their gas, pipelines, and power plants to: data centers.

Two American oil and gas companies, Williams and Chevron, are presenting this demand as a huge win for investors. They expect to expand on facilities they're building now for the data center industry for years to come.

Data centers are becoming 'a big driver for both power and gas demand in the US,' says Ashish Sethia, global head of commodities and energy at BloombergNEF. He notes that increased demand for natural gas by the mid-2030s means that the US would need to increase production by 36 percent.

Williams is building six behind-the-meter gas plants for data centers across the country, including four projects serving Meta data centers in Ohio. The company has also announced more than $5 billion in investments for its data center ventures, including money from private equity giant KKR.