US Set to Be Net Gas Exporter in 2017: EIA
The US exported more natural gas than it imported in February, April and May 2017 according to the government's Energy Information Administration.
The nation first began importing more gas than it exported in 1958 when total volumes were far smaller. But it has been a net gas importer -- on an average annual basis -- for almost 60 years since. Now EIA has said that 2017 is expected to be the year when the US becomes a net gas exporter; its briefing also shows a timeline for new US LNG export project start-ups (although Cameron LNG train 1 is not now due to start until 2019).
Declining net pipeline imports from Canada, booming piped gas exports to Mexico, and increasing LNG exports (Sabine Pass set a new record of 1.96bn ft3/d in May 2017) are all contributing to the nation’s ongoing shift toward being a net exporter, reported EIA's Today in Energy on August 8.
In particular, EIA noted that US gas exports to Mexico reached near-record levels in the first five months of 2017 averaging 4.04bn ft3/d, an increase from their full year 2016 average of 3.78bn ft3/d. The full text with graphs of EIA's Today in Energy are available here for August 8 and here for August 9.
Graphic credit: EIA Today in Energy
Mark Smedley