As Cheniere Energy shuts down its LNG terminal at Sabine Pass for a month of repairs, it seems like a good time to take stock of the global LNG situation. With pundits and politicians increasingly pointing to LNG as proof of a new golden age in American energy production, it’s necessary to measure how those predictions may pan out. Since coming on-line in February, Cheniere’s facility at Sabine Pass has shipped 33 cargoes of LNG. In the first six months of 2016 total LNG exports totaled 63.5 billion cubic feet (bcf) against total U.S. imports of 53.1 bcf, according to Argus Media. An analysis found that those shipments ended up in diverse markets world-wide, with the conspicuous absence of East Asia, where the bulk of LNG demand is situated. The U.S. won’t easily find markets in Japan, China or South Korea (not to mention India, where LNG […]

Posted in: LNG