LNG

US pipeline gas exports to Mexico have surged, reaching a record 7.5 Bcf/d in May, as emerging LNG feedgas demand tightens cross-border supply. More than 70% of exported US gas to Mexico is used for power generation, but this share will shift once Fast LNG Altamira 2 and Energía Costa Azul begin operations.

The value of US-Mexico trade is shifting as Mexico evolves as a conduit for re-exporting American gas to global LNG markets. Though US exports rose 5% the trade value fell more than 30% to $4.2 billion during the first half of 2025, largely due to lower fuel prices.

As the Department of Energy (DOE) issued the first LNG export permit to non-FTA countries following a month-long pause, analysts forecast North America’s LNG export capacity could double by 2028 – if projects under construction begin operations as planned. The DOE just granted a permit to New Fortress Energy’s floating liquefaction plant offshore Altamira.

NFE had to delay shipment of the first cargo in July but subsequently exported several LNG cargoes from Altamira to countries with a free trade agreement (FTA) in place. Now, NFE has been authorized to also export LNG to countries that have no free trade agreement with the United States, which include all EU member states as well as Japan and India, among others. The permit is expected to boost Altamira’s exports to up to 1.4 million metric tons through to August 2029, a potential 3% rise.

Commenting on the recent permit for NFE’s Altamira LNG export terminal, assistant DOE secretary or the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, Brad Crabtree, noted: “These re-exports can diversify global LNG supplies and improve energy security for U.S. allies and trading partners.”

Despite this positive development, it needs to be said that NFE initially requested for their export term to last until the end of 2050 – twenty years longer than what they were granted by the regulator. This term will be re-evaluated in time, allowing NFE to file for an extension after a minimum of two years.

What’s in the making

North America’s total LNG export capacity is on track to more than double from 11.4 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) last year to 24.4 Bcf/d in 2028. Over the coming four years, EIA analysts estimate LNG export capacity will grow by 0.8 Bcf/d in Mexico, 2.5 Bcf/d in Canada, and 9.7 Bcf/d in the United States from a total of 10 new projects that are currently under construction in these three countries.

Five US projects, with 9.7 Bcf/d capacity combined, that are currently under construction include Plaquemines (Phase I and Phase II), Corpus Christi Stage III, Golden Pass, Rio Grande Phase I, and Port Arthur Phase I. Developers expect to produce the first LNG from Plaquemines LNG and Corpus Christi LNG Stage III and ship first cargoes from these projects by the end of 2024.

In Canada, three projects with 2.5 Bcf/d capacity combined are in the making in British Columbia on Canada’s west coast – all supplied with natural gas from western Canada. Developers of the massive 1.8 Bcf/d LNG Canada plan to export a first cargo from Train 1 in the summer 2025. The 0.3 Bcf/d Woodfibre LNG terminal targets aims for a 2027 start-up while the 0.4 Bcf/d Cedar FLNG project reached a final investment decision (FID) in June 2024 and expects to start LNG exports in 2028.

New Fortress Energy, the US LNG production and import projects developer, reported a jump in revenues and a swing to profits in the third quarter while forecasting bumper earnings from floating LNG production projects.

Sept 3 (LNGJ) - The 145,000 cubic metres capacity carrier “Methane Nile Eagle” was unloading a shipment on September 3 at the Japanese Ohgishima import terminal at the port of Yokohama from the Woodside Petroleum Dampier export facility in Western Australia, according to shipping data. The “Maran Gas Agamemnon” was unloading a cargo on September 3 at the Altamira terminal on the Gulf Coast of Mexico from the US Sabine Pass export plant owned by Cheniere Energy. The 171,866 cubic metres capacity carrier “Tessala” was scheduled to unload a cargo on September 4 at the French Fos sur Mer terminal near Marseille from the Arzew plant in Algeria, operated by Sonatrach. The 165,500 cubic metres capacity vessel “Woodside Donaldson” left the Pluto LNG jetty at Dampier port in Western Australia bound for the Japanese Himeji terminal where it is due to unload on September 12. The 174,100 cubic metres capacity vessel “Cesi Qingdao” is scheduled to deliver a cargo on September 14 to the Tianjin terminal in northeast China, owned by Sinopec, from Australia Pacific LNG in Queensland.

Mexico is continuing to import growing volumes of pipeline natural gas and LNG as monthly shipments increased by more than 13 percent from the US cross-border pipelines and in the form of cargoes from the Sabine Pass liquefaction plant in the US state of Louisiana and other LNG exporting countries such as Nigeria and Peru.

Mexico, the largest customer for US LNG with 65 cargoes received since 2016 and other shipments brought in from nations such as Nigeria, is planning a tender for strategic storage of natural gas at four depleted oil and gas reservoirs.

Sept 14 (LNGJ) - The 138,200 cubic metres capacity vessel “Hanjin Muscat” will deliver a cargo on September 27 to the Pyeongtaek import terminal, operated by Korea Gas Corp, from the Oman plant on the Arabian Peninsula. The 141,000 cubic metres capacity “LNG Adamawa” will unload a shipment on September 28 at the Mexican Altamira import terminal on the Gulf of Mexico coast from the Nigerian LNG plant on Bonny Island. The 145,700 cubic metres capacity carrier “Tangguh Jaya” carrier is scheduled to deliver a cargo on October 5 to the Costa Azul terminal, owned by US utility Sempra Energy, and located on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, near the town of Ensenada. The shipment was lifted on September 9 from the Tangguh plant on Bintuni Bay, in the province of West Papua, Indonesia.

LNG importer Mexico is now offering limited transparency in natural gas pricing showing that its domestic gas was at $4.10 per million British thermal units compared with $2.92 per MMBtu in the US and around $5.70 per MMBtu in Europe.

Mexico, the largest US LNG and pipeline natural gas importer, will launch a contract system on July 1 for natural gas pipeline capacity reservations as part of its transition to a fully competitive market.