Last week, Reuters reported that the United States set a new record for exports of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG). Preliminary data suggests that, during 2025, the U.S. became the first country to export more than 100 million metric tons of LNG in a single year. The U.S. set five monthly production records.
The U.S. made up about a quarter of global LNG exports last year, exporting 111 million metric tons, about 20 million metric tons ahead of Qatar. The growth in LNG exports is attributed largely to “new projects entering service and a rapid ramp-up at recently commissioned facilities.” U.S. LNG headed mostly to Europe, as the U.S. replaces Russian gas this winter. Turkey purchased more U.S. LNG in December “than the entire Asian market.”
2026 is likely to be another banner year for U.S. LNG exports, as several smaller projects are ramping up and may contribute another 20 million metric tons compared to last year.
The U.S. was also the world’s top LNG exporter in 2023 under the Biden administration. But it was despite that administration’s best efforts to block and delay new export facilities, pausing new project construction in 2024. Later that year, the Department of Energy released a report discouraging natural gas export terminal projects.
There isn’t strong evidence that increasing LNG exports raises domestic prices. Higher demand for natural gas coexists with low prices so long as supply keeps pace — which it has, through innovation like hydraulic fracturing, which has raised productivity. The Center for Strategic and International Studies points out that the last decade has seen rapidly growing exports without domestic price impacts.
Natural gas accounted for 38% of the total U.S. energy production in 2024 and is the largest source every year since 2011. The Energy Information Administration also expects that North America’s natural gas export capacity additions could more than double by 2029, with most of that led by the U.S. Natural gas has about half of the carbon dioxide emissions as coal, and as growing natural gas consumption has displaced coal consumption, emissions have declined.
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