U.S. net natural gas exports remain flat in the first half of 2024

In the first six months of 2024, U.S. net natural gas exports (exports minus imports) averaged 12.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), 1% (0.1 Bcf/d) more than the same period last year and 2% (0.3 Bcf/d) less than in 2023, according to our Natural Gas Monthly. Since 2019, increases in liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports and exports by pipeline to Mexico have led the growth in U.S. natural gas exports. The United States has exported more natural gas than it imports since 2017.

The United States trades natural gas by pipeline with Canada and Mexico and as LNG with more than 40 countries. The United States imports more natural gas by pipeline from Canada than it exports, and it exports more natural gas by pipeline to Mexico than it imports. The United States has been a net exporter of LNG since 2016.

The large buildout of LNG export capacity enabled LNG exports to grow from an annual average of 0.5 Bcf/d in 2016 to 11.9 Bcf/d in 2023. Currently, the United States has seven LNG export terminals in operation and five terminals under construction. In 2023, the United States was the world’s largest LNG exporter. By the end of this year, we expect two new LNG export facilities—Plaquemines LNG and Corpus Christi LNG Stage 3 (an expansion of the existing Corpus Christi LNG export terminal)—to start LNG exports.

U.S. natural gas pipeline imports from Canada play an important role in balancing the U.S. natural gas market, particularly in the winter. Most natural gas imported by pipeline from Canada arrives in the Western and Midcontinent regions of the United States. In 2023, net U.S. pipeline imports from Canada averaged 5.2 Bcf/d, of which 83% was imported into the western United States. In the first six months of 2024, net U.S. pipeline imports from Canada averaged 5.4 Bcf/d, an increase of 11% (0.5 Bcf/d) compared with the same period in 2023, mainly because of increased imports into the Midcontinent region.

Since the end of natural gas production in eastern Canada (offshore Nova Scotia) and growth in production in the U.S. Appalachia region, U.S. exports of natural gas by pipeline into eastern Canada exceeded imports from eastern Canada, making the eastern United States a net exporter of natural gas by pipeline to eastern Canada for several years since 2017.

U.S. net pipeline exports to Mexico averaged 6.3 Bcf/d in the first six months of 2024, 7% (0.4 Bcf/d) more than over the same period last year and 2% more (0.1 Bcf/d) than the 2023 annual average. U.S.-Mexico cross-border pipeline capacity is set to expand as two new natural gas pipeline projects with a total capacity of 5.3 Bcf/d have received regulatory approvals. These projects are primarily targeting LNG export capacity being developed in Mexico that will be supplied with natural gas sourced from the United States.