Big Challenges Await US LNG's Next Five Years

摘要

The US has gone from a net LNG importer to one of the world's biggest LNG exporters over the past five years.But mounting climate concerns may make life more of a struggle over the next five.The first cargo from Cheniere's Sabine Pass left the US lower 48 on Feb.25,2016,aboard Asia Vision,arriving at the Brazilian port of Rio de Janeiro 19 days later.Over the subsequent five years,US export capacity has soared from nil to the current 75 million tons per year(about 11 billion cubic feet per day),rivaling that of top producers Qatar and Australia.Exports have risen steadily.The exceptions came in 2020,when coronavirus lockdowns hit demand and prices-making US sales uneconomic-and early 2021,when feed gas supply plummeted amid a Texas deep freeze(NGW Feb.15'21).