U.S. liquefied natural gas exports reached 1.94 billion cubic feet per day in 2017

Presenting a figure nearly quadruple that of 2016, the United States exported 1.94 billion cubic feet per day in 2017, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

All exports originated from Louisiana’s Sabine Pass liquefaction terminal and reached 25 countries. The majority went to three countries in particular: Mexico, South Korea, and China. Even there, though, Mexico had far and away the highest demand, taking in 20 percent of the total U.S. exports. This could change in the future as Mexico completes domestic pipelines, but for the moment, delays therein were beneficial to U.S. export demands.

Between the remainder, 18 percent of the U.S. total went to South Korea and 15 percent to China, while almost 60 percent was spread among more than 20 countries in Asia, North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and the Caribbean. U.S. export capacity is rising, with both Sabine Pass and Cove Point in Maryland having come online since 2016. For Sabine Pass, this benefit has come with a mix of long-term contracts and flexible destination clauses, allowing U.S. LNG to be shipped anywhere across the globe.

While capacity currently sits at 3.6 Bcf/d, that could grow still further in the next two years, as four more projects are scheduled to come online. Once completed, they could boost U.S. LNG export capacity as high as 9.6 Bcf/d by the end of 2019. That could make the U.S. the third largest LNG exporter, ranking behind Australia and Qatar.