US Net Gas Exports Doubled in 1H 2019: EIA
Net natural gas exports from the US doubled in 1H 2019 compared with the same period last year, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said October 29.
Net exports averaged about 4.1bn ft3/day in the January to June period this year, the EIA said, compared with 2.0bn ft3/day in the comparable 2018 period. US gas imports and exports were balanced in 1H 2017. And with new LNG export capacity and additional pipeline connections to Mexico expected to be added this year, the EIA said net US gas exports will average 4.6bn ft3/day this year and 7.2bn ft3/day in 2020.
The majority of the increase in first half exports reflected growing LNG capacity in the US, which reached 5.4bn ft3/day across four facilities and nine liquefaction trains by June. Total US LNG exports in the first half this year were 37% higher than a year ago, at nearly 775bn ft3, EIA data shows.
New capacity was added in 1H 2019 with Train 1 at Cameron LNG in Louisiana, which shipped its first commissioning cargo in May, and Train 2 at the Corpus Christi terminal in Texas, which shipped its first commissioning cargo in June.
Subsequent to 1H 2019 additional LNG capacity came online, the EIA said, with the Freeport LNG project in Texas and the Elba Island terminal in Georgia making their first commissioning deliveries. By the end of this year, these two facilities and the completion of additional trains at Cameron LNG will bring total US LNG capacity to 8.9bn ft3/day, up 82% from 4.9bn ft3/day at the end of 2018.
Net gas exports by pipeline also rose in the first half, the EIA said, rising slightly to Canada as additional capacity on the Rover and Nexus pipeline systems from the Appalachian Basin came on-stream and increasing by more than 400mn ft3/day – to 4.9bn ft3/day for the six-month period – to Mexico as new cross-border capacity from the Permian Basin was added. Gas exports to Mexico reached consecutive monthly records of 5.2bn ft3/day in June and 5.3bn ft3/day in July, the EIA said.