US LNG exports averaged 17.4 billion ft3/d in the first six months of the year, 23% more than the same period in 2025, according to the US Energy Information Administration's 'Natural Gas Monthly'.
In the EIA's latest 'Short-Term Energy Outlook', it estimates US LNG exports will average 17.3 billion ft3/d in 2H26 before rising to 18.7 billion ft3/d in 1H27.
Export capacity additions from startup production at new terminals and expansions at existing terminals boosted LNG exports at the fastest rate since the United States began large-scale exports in 2016. Plaquemines LNG is exporting at full capacity, and Corpus Christi Stage 3 is currently exporting from six of seven liquefaction trains. These terminals, when complete, will increase nominal US export capacity by a combined 4 billion ft3/d. Golden Pass LNG began exports in April 2026 and is expected to increase exports from Train 1 through the end of 2026, adding another 0.7 billion ft3/d of nominal export capacity. Golden Pass LNG Train 2 is expected to be completed in late 2026.
Global LNG prices remained sufficiently high throughout 1H26 to continue incentivising US exports near maximum output levels. In March, disruptions to shipments of LNG through of the Strait of Hormuz cut off 20% of global LNG supplies, mostly from Qatar. The disruption pushed global LNG prices higher and forced Asian buyers, who import approximately 80% of Qatari LNG supplies, to compete for limited spot cargoes on the open market. The average price at Europe’s benchmark Title Transfer Facility in the Netherlands was US$14.74/million Btu in 1H26, up from US$13.10/million Btu in 1H25. The price is the highest since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, when prices rose to US$32.42/million Btu in the first half of the year as European buyers turned away from piped Russian gas. The average Japan-Korea Marker price, the benchmark price for LNG imports into East Asia, also reached a four-year high of US$15.56/million Btu as hot weather supported higher spot demand for LNG in the region, up US$2.38/million Btu from 1H25 and the highest since US$29.00/million Btu in 2022, according to Bloomberg data.
Market disruptions from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz contributed to a doubling of US LNG shipments to Asia in 1H26 compared with last year. Exports to both Europe and Asia were both higher on a volume basis, rising 0.1 billion ft3/d (1%) and 2.3 billion ft3/d (108%) from 1H25, respectively. Exports to Latin America and the Caribbean and the Middle East and North Africa rose 0.8 billion ft3/d (46%) from 1H25. Top destination countries included Egypt (1.7 billion ft3/d), the Netherlands (1.7 billion ft3/d), Italy (1.4 billion ft3/d, France (1.2 billion ft3/d), and the UK (1.1 billion ft3/d).