Page 6 - NorthAmOil Week 11 2021

NorthAmOil COMMENTARY NorthAmOil

US LNG’s resilience

during the pandemic

The latest figures from the US Energy Information

Administration illustrate the resilience of US LNG

during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic

GLOBAL US LNG exports proved to be resilient last year, Cameron’s return to service at the end of the
rebounding rapidly after a slowdown over the year coincided with US LNG exports rising to
WHAT: summer. The latest data illustrate their strength new highs. And it is expected that recent outages
US LNG exports were in the face of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pan- during Winter Storm Uri in February 2021 will
quick to rebound from a demic, as well as other disruptions. play out similarly.
slowdown in the summer This week, the US Energy Information
of 2020. Administration (EIA) reported that US LNG Asian demand
exports maintained their growth in 2020 despite US LNG was exported to 38 countries in 2020,
WHY: the hit that demand took from the pandemic, with Asia overtaking Europe as the main des-
Demand for the super- rising 31% compared to 2019 to 6.5bn cubic tination. Indeed, exports to Asia rose 67%
chilled fuel rebounded, feet (184.1mn cubic metres) per day on average. year on year in 2020 according to the EIA, and
especially in Asia. Indeed, the EIA noted that while US exports fell accounted for almost half of total exports. This
to record lows over the summer of 2020, they illustrates how Asian demand has kept growing
WHAT NEXT: subsequently rebounded to reach all-time highs despite the impact of the pandemic. The agency
Exports appear set to stay in November and December. noted that shipments to Europe also increased
strong over the course This rebound can be attributed to recover- in 2020 – after the continent was the main des-
of 2021. ing demand in Asia and elsewhere, and also tination for US exports in 2019 – but not as sig-
came despite other disruptions such as Hurri- nificantly as those going to Asia.
canes Laura and Delta, which were among the In total, US LNG producers exported around
numerous storms that hit the US Gulf Coast in 3.1 bcf (87.8 mcm) per day on average to Asia
2020. The Cameron LNG terminal in Louisiana in 2020, compared with 2.5 bcf (70.8 mcm) per
was hit particularly hard, going offline from day to Europe.
late August until early October as a result of The fact that China lowered tariffs on US
damage caused by Hurricane Laura. However, LNG and granted tariff waivers helped to bolster

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