The volume of world exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2024 reached 411.5 million tons, which is 1.6% more than in the previous year.
Thus, the slowest growth has been recorded on the LNG market since 2020. This follows from the report of the Arab Oil Exporters (Oapek).
The slowdown in growth rate is due to the reduction in the launch of new commercial production projects, the restriction of existing production capacities and Western sanctions in relation to the Russian LNG plant “Arctic 2”.
delays and transfer of a number of planned projects, as well as extreme summer heat in a number of exporting countries, which increased local demand for electricity, aggravated the already difficult situation with LNG supply to the world market.
The United States remain the leading exporter LNG
In 2024, 75% of the world exports of LNG was on Australia, Qatar, Russia, Malaysia and the USA.
The United States retained the position of the leading exporter of LNG, increasing the amount of export by 1.6% -to 88.9 million tons. This is followed by Australia with 79.6 million tons and Qatar with 79.2 million tons.
Russia also increased LNG export by 6.8% to 33.3 million tons. The Malaysia indicator increased by 3.7%, reaching 27.8 million tons.
A number of other countries, including Australia, Qatar, Cameroon, Mozambique, Indonesia, Norway and the UAE, for the period under consideration also increased export volumes.
Demand for LNG grows in Asia and is reduced in Europe
The volume of global imports of LNG in 2024 increased by 1.6% – to 412.8 million tons.
In the OAPEK report, the changing dynamics in the world markets of LNG is focused. At the same time, Asia becomes a key “demand driver” against the backdrop of a decrease in Europe dependence on the import of LNG.
Demand in Asia countries sharply grew due to abnormal heat and increased industrial activity in China and India.
The total import of LNG to Asia grew by 8.4% to 284.4 million tons. China, the world’s largest LNG market, increased its imported capacities by 6.5% to 76.5 million tons.
Import LNG in South Korea grew by 5.4% to 47.7 million tons. At the same time, imports to Japan decreased by 0.6% to 65.7 million tons.
Import of LNG into Europe decreased by 18.1% to 100.9 million tons. This was the first decrease in this indicator since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2022.
The decrease in the volume of European imports was due to the high fullness of gas storages and the increase in imports on pipelines from Norway, Algeria and Russia.
The United States has retained a leading position in importing LNG countries in Europe with 43%. This is followed by Russia (17%), Qatar (12%), Algeria (8%), as well as Nigeria and Norway, which accounted for 5%.
Import of LNG in the Middle East region grew by 59% to 11.3 million tons. Import to North and South America grew by 19.9%, amounting to 16.3 million tons.