Last reviewed on October 31, 2026.
An MMBtu is one million British thermal units, the standard unit of energy for pricing natural gas in the United States. Henry Hub futures, EIA spot prices and most U.S. LNG contracts are all quoted in dollars per MMBtu.
A Btu is the heat needed to warm one pound of water by 1°F. The double M comes from the Roman numeral for a thousand: a thousand thousand is a million. One MMBtu is about 293 kWh of energy, and roughly 970 cubic feet of typical U.S. pipeline gas.
MMBtu vs Mcf: energy vs volume
An Mcf (thousand cubic feet) measures volume; an MMBtu measures energy. The link between them is heat content, which varies with the gas. At the recent U.S. average of about 1,036 Btu per cubic foot, 1 Mcf holds about 1.036 MMBtu.
| Mcf | MMBtu | Therms | Dekatherms |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1.036 | 10 | 1.036 |
| 5 | 5.180 | 52 | 5.180 |
| 10 | 10.360 | 104 | 10.360 |
| 50 | 51.800 | 518 | 51.800 |
| 100 | 103.600 | 1036 | 103.600 |
| 1000 | 1036.000 | 10360 | 1036.000 |
Quick equivalents
| 1 MMBtu equals | Value |
|---|---|
| Therms | 10 |
| Dekatherms (Dth) | 1 |
| Gigajoules (GJ) | 1.055 |
| Megawatt-hours (MWh) | 0.293 |
| Kilowatt-hours (kWh) | 293 |
| Mcf at 1,036 Btu/cf | 0.965 |
| Cubic metres at 1,036 Btu/cf | 27.3 |
What does a price per MMBtu mean in dollars?
Multiply price by quantity. At $3.00/MMBtu, 1,000 MMBtu costs $3,000, and one 10,000 MMBtu NYMEX contract represents $30,000 of gas. To turn $/MMBtu into $/Mcf, multiply by the heat content: $3.00/MMBtu × 1.036 = $3.11/Mcf.
Your household bill is a different number. Utilities bill in therms or ccf and add delivery charges, so a residential price per MMBtu is usually several times Henry Hub.
Frequently asked questions
How many MMBtu are in 1 Mcf?
About 1.036 at the recent U.S. average heat content. Rich gas holds more energy per cubic foot, and lean gas less.
Is MMBtu the same as mmBtu or MBtu?
MMBtu and mmBtu both mean one million Btu. MBtu is ambiguous: in U.S. gas markets it usually means one thousand Btu, but some international sources use it for a million, so check the context.
How many therms are in an MMBtu?
Ten.
How many MMBtu are in a tonne of LNG?
About 52, depending on composition.
Run your own figures with the natural gas unit converter.