LNG Exports: US #1, For Now

March 31, 2025 

The U.S. exported 11.9 Bcf/d in 2024, remaining the world’s largest LNG exporter. According to EIA data, the U.S. finished the year just ahead of Australia and Qatar.

U.S. LNG exports remained essentially flat compared with 2023 mainly because of several unplanned outages at existing LNG export facilities, lower natural gas consumption in Europe, and very limited new LNG export capacity additions since 2022.

Plaquemines LNG Phase 1 shipped its first export cargo in December, becoming the eighth U.S. LNG export facility in service. EIA estimates that utilization of LNG export capacity across the other seven U.S. LNG terminals operating in 2024 averaged 104% of nominal capacity and 86% of peak capacity, unchanged from the previous year.

Exports to Europe fell by 19% or 1.5 Bcf/d while shipments to Asia increased by 26% or 3.1 Bcf/d.

A new dynamic is waiting in the wings. Increased competition for U.S. LNG is on its way.  LNG import capacity in the EU and the UK expanded by more than 40% between 2021 and 2024 and will continue to grow in 2025 once new and expanded regasification facilities in Croatia, Cyprus, and Italy come online. Guyana, Mexico and Canada are also developing new export assets. The reactivation of Russian pipelines is a wild card that could disrupt project development and utilization.