US poised to become LNG market’s No.1 supplier [Gas in Transition]
US poised to become LNG market’s No.1 supplier [Gas in Transition]
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Natural Gas News
US poised to become LNG market’s No.1 supplier [Gas in Transition]
Summary
From 2022-2028, 45% of new LNG capacity worldwide will come onstream in the US, but Canada and Mexico will capture North America’s west coast opportunity. North America will become the primary source of global LNG supply. [Gas in Transition, Volume 3, Issue 12] by: Ross McCracken
US LNG exports have been on a stellar upward trend since 2016 when the first cargo left Sabine Pass. From close to zero in 2015, the country’s exports rose to 76.7mn t/yr in 2022, (see figure 1) making the US the third largest LNG exporter in the world after Qatar and Australia. Most significantly, the US has accounted for pretty much all of the supply-side growth in the global market since 2019, owing to production in both Qatar and Australia having reached plateaus. Outside of the big three, LNG exports were lower in 2022 than in 2019, owing to a combination of supply interruptions and declining reserves. There is plenty more to come from North America. In the first half of this year, US LNG exports ran at an annualised level of 88.2mn t/yr. Moreover, a new generation of US LNG plants are seeing final investment decisions (FID) move them to the construction phase. The driving force behind these investments is an expected increase in demand from Asia, as developing economies in the region increase gas use as a means of reducing their dependence on coal, alongside the surge in European LNG consumption as a result of the war in Ukraine...
Related Knowledge Center: Liquefied natural gas
Driven by plentiful natural gas produced from shale plays, the United States began exporting liquefied natural gas in 2016 when the Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana opened and shipped its first cargo. Since then, additional capacity, or trains, have been added to Sabine Pass, and terminals have become operational in Cameron Parish, La.; Hackberry, La.; Cove Point, Md.; and Corpus Christi, Texas. The Energy Information Administration projects that U.S. LNG export capacity will reach 8.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) by the end of 2019, making it the third largest in the world, behind Australia and Qatar. The tariff war with China has the potential to impact some final investment decisions for additional terminals in the coming months.