New LNG facilities boost U.S. exports even as Biden administration pauses new approvals
Energize Weekly, April 24, 2024
Bolstered by new of liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals, U.S. natural gas exports are projected to grow more than 25 percent by 2025 to 16.4 billion cubic feet a day, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The bulk of those exports – 14.3 billion cubic feet a day – will be LNG shipped to Europe and Asia. The remainder of exports are by pipeline to Mexico.
The increases come even as the Biden administration in January initiated a controversial pause on approvals for pending and new applications for LNG export projects.
The permitting hiatus will give the Department of Energy (DOE) time to conduct a review of the economic and environmental impacts of projects seeking approval to export LNG.
The administration’s move drew fire from the industry and congressional Republican legislators. On April 18, at a hearing by a House subcommittee, legislators pressed DOE officials over the delay.
“The liquefied natural gas pause sends the wrong message to the world, as do other clearly political decisions against U.S. energy interests,” Rep. Pat Fallon, a Texas Republican and chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs, said at the hearing.
The U.S. exported more LNG than any other country in 2023, averaging 11.9 billion cubic feet per day – a 12 percent increase compared with 2022, according to EIA data.
Even with the pause in new approvals, three new LNG facilities and three Mexican pipelines coming online will boost U.S. export capacity over the next two years, the EIA said.
“In 2024, we expect that Plaquemines LNG Phase I and Corpus Christi Stage 3 will begin LNG production and load first cargoes by the end of the year,” the agency said. “In 2025, the developers of Golden Pass LNG plan to place in service the first two trains of this new three-train LNG export facility.”
There are another four LNG projects underway with an export capacity of 9.5 billion cubic feet a day and another 11 projects that have been approved, but are not yet under construction with capacity of about 15 billion cubic feet a day, according to the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission.
Three Mexican pipeline projects – the Tula-Villa de Reyes, the Tuxpan-Tula and Cuxtal Phase II – are projected to become fully operational by 2025.
“We forecast U.S. natural gas exports by pipeline to grow by 3 percent, or 0.3 billion cubic feet a day, in 2024 and by 4 percent in 2025,” the agency said.
The EIA said that Canadian imports to the U.S. have been stable for the last two years, averaging 8.1 billion cubic feet a day and that it expects Canadian gas to remain a key supply source, particularly for the U.S. Midwest region during winter months.
