The United States has been a net exporter of natural gas for more than 12 consecutive months, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Thursday.
U.S. net natural gas exports in February 2019 totaled 4.6 billion cubic feet (about 130.26 million cubic meters) per day, making U.S. natural gas exports exceed imports for 13 consecutive months.
According to the EIA, most U.S. natural gas exports have been sent by pipeline to neighboring Canada and Mexico, despite the fact that U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports have grown in recent years.
U.S. LNG exports averaged 3.0 billion cubic feet (84.95 million cubic meters) per day in 2018 and hit a high of 4.1 billion cubic feet (116.10 million cubic meters) per day in January 2019. During 2019, the volume of U.S. LNG exports rose steadily as three new liquefaction units, called trains, entered service.
These three trains have a combined capacity of 1.9 billion cubic feet (53.8 million cubic meters) per day, bringing total U.S. LNG export nameplate capacity to 4.3 billion cubic feet (121.76 million cubic meters) per day as of the end of 2018.
In 2019, U.S. LNG export volumes are expected to continue to rise as an additional 4.0 billion cubic feet (113.27 million cubic meters) per day of liquefaction capacity is brought online by the end of the year.
EIA's latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) forecast that U.S. net natural gas exports will average 4.7 billion cubic feet (133.09 million cubic meters) per day in 2019 and 7.5 billion cubic feet (212.38 million cubic meters) per day in 2020, with most of the growth attributable to increases in LNG exports.
However, pipeline exports of natural gas are also increasing. From September 2018 to November 2018, the United States exported more natural gas than it imported by pipeline.
According to STEO forecasts, the United States will become a net exporter of natural gas by pipeline on an annual basis in 2019.
Editor:Cherie
