Expand Energy sees minimal near-term impact from Trump's tariffs

April 30 (Reuters) - Expand Energy EXE.O said on Wednesday the biggest natural gas producer in the U.S. expected minimal near-term impact from President Donald Trump's on-again off-again tariffs due in part to the company's existing contracts.

In the longer term, the possible tariff impact is "largely dependent upon outcome and scale of tariff program," Expand, formerly known as Chesapeake Energy before its merger with Southwestern Energy in 2024, said in its first quarter earnings presentation.

While the oil markets have been roiled by Trump's changing tariff policies in his first 100 days in office, natural gas and its liquefied state, LNG, have fared better.

On his first day of his second term, Trump ordered the resumption of LNG export approvals - something former President Joe Biden had paused - and has started rolling back environmental regulations that slowed projects, mainly on the Gulf Coast.

"We ... view Expand as one of the best positioned in domestic E&P (exploration and production) to benefit from increasing Gulf Coast natural gas demand," analysts at investment banking company Piper Sandler said in a note.

Much of the expected demand growth for gas in 2025 and 2026 will come from annual increases of around 18% in LNG exports and increases of around 8% in pipeline exports to Mexico and Canada, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

With six LNG export plants under construction along the Gulf Coast, the federal agency projected LNG exports would keep hitting fresh record highs every year for the next decade or so.

Meanwhile, Expand said it was on track to produce more gas in 2025 and 2026 to meet growing demand for the fuel, repeating what it said in its fourth quarter earnings in February.

Expand executives told analysts on its earnings call it expected to run about 12 rigs and invest about $2.7 billion to produce around 7.1 billion cubic feet of gas equivalent per day in 2025.

It also repeated plans to build incremental productive capacity for an additional $300 million by exiting 2025 with about 15 rigs that will grow production from a year-end 2025 exit rate of about 7.2 bcfed to average about 7.5 bcfed in 2026 should market conditions warrant.

Expand said this gives the company flexibility to remove productive capacity capital expenditures if markets materially soften.

"We continue to execute our business, utilizing our productive capacity to navigate today’s dynamic macro environment and be prepared to efficiently respond as market conditions change," Expand CEO Nick Dell’Osso said in its earnings release.