"US Liquefied Natural Gas Exports Hit Record Highs"

Source:

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/12/06/us-lng-exports-hit-new-record-highs/

"Today, the United States is the world’s largest producer of natural gas. 

Natural gas supplies about 1/3 of the United States’ primary energy consumption,  with its primary uses being heating and generating electricity. 

While the majority of natural gas is delivered in its gaseous form via pipeline in the United States, the growth in the international market for natural gas has given rise to the use of natural gas in a liquefied form, or LNG.

    LNG Basics

    Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas that has been cooled to a liquid state, at about -260° Fahrenheit, for shipping and storage.

The volume of natural gas in its liquid state is about 600 times smaller than its volume in its gaseous state.

This process makes it possible to transport natural gas to places pipelines do not reach.

    Liquefying natural gas is a way to move natural gas long distances when pipeline transport is not feasible.

Markets that are too far away from producing regions to be connected directly to pipelines have access to natural gas because of LNG.

In its compact liquid form, natural gas can be shipped in special tankers to terminals around the world. 

At these terminals, the LNG is returned to its gaseous state and transported by pipeline to distribution companies, industrial consumers, and power plants.

    LNG Trade

    For large-volume ocean transport, LNG is loaded onto double-hulled ships, which are used for both safety and insulating purposes.

Once the ship arrives at the receiving port, LNG is off-loaded into well-insulated storage tanks, and later regasified for entrance into a pipeline distribution network.

    LNG can also be shipped in smaller quantities, usually over shorter ocean distances.

There is a growing trade in small-scale LNG shipments, which are most commonly made using the same containers used on trucks and in international trade, specially outfitted with cryogenic tanks.

Other small-scale LNG activities include “peak-shaver” liquefaction and storage facilities, which can hold gas compactly for when it is needed in local markets in the U.S. during times of peak demand. 

LNG is also sometimes imported or exported by truck from this kind of facility.

    In 2020, the U.S. exported almost 2,400 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas in the form of LNG in large LNG tanker ships, along with a small quantity shipped by container or in trucks. 

In total, as of August 2021, U.S. LNG has been delivered to 40 countries on five continents. 

The U.S. also still imports some LNG, mostly to New England, a region of the country constrained by limited pipeline and storage capacity.

Key Abbreviations
    LNG: Liquified Natural Gas
    Bcf: Billion cubic feet
    FERC: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
    Frac, Fracking: Related to hydraulic fracturing

    Natural gas deliveries to U.S. LNG export terminals surged to record levels in the waning days of November, topping 12 Bcf/d as strong global gas demand continued to incentivize operators to run their facilities at full bore.

    Total feedgas deliveries to the six major operating U.S. LNG export facilities hit about 12.1 Bcf/d on Nov. 26 and remained near that level for about two days before dropping to about 11.2 Bcf/d on Nov. 30, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence pipeline flow data.

This last number compared to about 10.9 Bcf/d on Nov. 30, 2020, as sector activity rebounded from the impacts of the pandemic.

    Average flows for November 2021 exceeded 11 Bcf/d.

    Prices at hubs in every region were down sharply in Dec. 1 trading as mild weather underwhelmed U.S. gas markets, according to Platts.

... The skyrocketing growth of US LNG exports has been dazzling.

US LNG export capacity has grown from about 2 Bcf/d when I authored this 2017 post to greater than 10 Bcf/d in 2021 and is expected to reach 14 Bcf/d by the end of next year.

LNG export terminals, currently under construction, will add an additional 8.4 Bcf/d of export capacity over the next few years and an additional 24 Bcf/d of capacity, as yet not under construction, have been approved by FERC."