Global LNG trade up 5% in 2022, EIA reports
Global LNG trade rose by 5% in 2022, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported June 15 in its Natural Gas Weekly Update, supported by new liquefaction capacity and increased European demand.
Citing statistics from CEDIGAZ, the EIA said global LNG trade averaged 51.7bn ft3/day in 2022, up about 2.6bn ft3/day from 2021 trade.
As in previous years, LNG exports in 2022 increased the most from the US, with a gain of 1.4bn ft3/day, or 16%. Exports from Malaysia, Norway, Trinidad and Tobago, Russia, Oman and Equatorial Guinea rose by a combined 1.3bn ft3/day, while exports from Algeria and Nigeria fell by a combined 500mn ft3/day.
In the first half last year, with the commissioning of Cheniere Energy’s Calcasieu Pass facility, the US became the world’s largest LNG exporter. But exports fell in the second half with the closure of the Freeport LNG facility in June following an explosion and fire, leaving Qatar and Australia as the leading LNG exporters in 2022, with exports of 10.5bn ft3/day and 10.4bn ft3/day, respectively.
Among LNG importers, Europe (including Turkiye) posted the largest year-over-year gain, with imports up 65%, or 6.5bnn ft3/day, from 2021. Five countries - France, the UK, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium – accounted for 85% of the total increase, the EIA said.
Japan retook the title of the world’s top LNG importer in 2022, even though its imports declined by about 3%, as imports by China, which took the top title from Japan in 2021, declined by 20%, in part due to its tough zero-COVID policies.