Natural gas exports flat in first half of ’24

U.S. net natural gas exports were flat for the first six months of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Exports averaged 12.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), 1% (0.1 Bcf/d) more than the same period last year and 2% (0.3 Bcf/d) less than in 2022, according to the EIA’s figures.

“Since 2019, increases in liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports and exports by pipeline to Mexico have led the growth in U.S. natural gas exports,” the EIA stated. “The United States has exported more natural gas than it imports since 2017.”

The United States trades natural gas by pipeline with Canada and Mexico and as LNG with more than 40 countries. The United States imports more natural gas by pipeline from Canada than it exports, and it exports more natural gas by pipeline to Mexico than it imports. The United States has been a net exporter of LNG since 2016.

The large buildout of LNG export capacity enabled LNG exports to grow from an annual average of 0.5 Bcf/d in 2016 to 11.9 Bcf/d in 2023. Currently, the United States has seven LNG export terminals in operation and five terminals under construction. In 2023, the United States was the world’s largest LNG exporter.

“By the end of this year, we expect two new LNG export facilities—Plaquemines LNG and Corpus Christi LNG Stage 3 (an expansion of the existing Corpus Christi LNG export terminal)—to start LNG exports,” the EIA stated.