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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

COMMENTARY US LNG exports proved to be resilient last year, Asian demand
rebounding rapidly after a slowdown over the US LNG was exported to 38 countries in 2020,
summer. The latest data illustrate their strength according to the EIA, with Asia overtaking
WHAT: in the face of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pan- Europe as the main destination. Indeed, to Asia
US LNG exports were demic, as well as other disruptions. rose 67% year on year in 2020 according to
quick to rebound from a This week, the US Energy Information the EIA, and accounted for almost half of total
slowdown in the summer Administration (EIA) reported that US LNG exports. This illustrates how Asian demand has
of 2020. exports maintained their growth in 2020 despite kept growing despite the impact of the pandemic.
the hit that demand took from the pandemic, The agency noted that shipments to Europe also
WHY: rising 31% compared to 2019 to 6.5bn cubic increased in 2020 – after the continent was the
Demand for the super- feet (184.1mn cubic metres) per day on average. main destination for US exports in 2019 – but
chilled fuel rebounded, Indeed, the EIA noted that while US exports fell not as significantly as those going to Asia.
especially in Asia. to record lows over the summer of 2020, they In total, US LNG producers exported around
subsequently rebounded to reach all-time highs 3.1 bcf (87.8 mcm) per day on average to Asia in
WHAT NEXT: in November and December. 2020, compared with 2.5 bcf (70.8 mcm) per day
Exports appear set to stay This rebound can be attributed to recovering to Europe.
strong over the course demand in Asia and elsewhere, and also came The fact that China lowered tariffs on US
of 2021. despite other disruptions such as Hurricanes LNG and granted tariff waivers helped to bol-
Laura and Delta, which were among the numer- ster exports to Asia, after US-China LNG trade
ous storms that hit the US Gulf Coast in 2020. had dropped to almost nothing in 2019. In 2020,
The Cameron LNG terminal in Louisiana was US exports of the super-chilled fuel to China
hit particularly hard, going offline from late averaged 600mn cubic feet (17.0 mcm) per day
August until early October as a result of damage – a considerable jump from only two cargoes
caused by Hurricane Laura. However, Cameron’s shipped over the whole of 2019.
return to service at the end of the year coincided There are hopes that US-China relations will
with US LNG exports rising to new highs. And improve under new US President Joe Biden, but
it is expected that recent outages during Win- others have warned that any thawing will be
ter Storm Uri in February 2021 will play out gradual. The two countries held their first high-
similarly. level talks of Biden’s presidency this week, but
were reported to be attending the meeting with

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