US gas exports to surge 30%
With five US LNG export projects set to start operations and ramp up production by the end of 2027, the country’s total gas export capacity is forecast to grow nearly 30%. According to EIA data, exports are bound to rise 1.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2026 to average 17.0 Bcf/d and increase by an additional 1.5 Bcf/d) in 2027.
LNG importers seek optionality, not just molecules
Optionality, not just molecules, is what LNG buyers are scrambling for as spare capacity shrinks and shipments from Qatar remain constraint. As sources for ‘safe’ supply become finite, each new shipping disruption has a greater impact on prices and procurement decisions, analysts warn.
US, Canada offset 70% of lost LNG supply via Hormuz
Soaring LNG trade flows from the US and Canada have offset around 70% of the lost supply via the Strait of Hormuz, though further military escalations in the region and delays in restoring Qatari exports keeps could prolong market tightness into 2027, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warns.
Al Fat'h at Yangpu: Bonded, not (yet) imported
One US LNG cargo reached China on 16 July, the first in seventeen months, but it may never be imported. Our tracking shows the Al Fat'h diverted from Huizhou, an ordinary customs berth, to bonded Yangpu, where a cargo can wait, clear customs, or leave again with duty never falling due. Which of those happens is not yet knowable, and Beijing's tariff on US LNG still stands.
US LNG export growth in H1-2026 came from three plants
Plaquemines, Corpus Christi and Golden Pass drove a sharp rise in US LNG exports, which increased 18.1% year on year to 61.11 MMt in the first half of 2026 on a sailed-date basis.
First US LNG cargo discharges in southern China
China has received its first US LNG cargo in nearly 1.5 years, with the Al Fat’h carrier – loaded at Plaquemines in early June – berthing and discharging at Yangpu LNG terminal in Hainan, southern China. Al Fat'h's charterer is reportedly QatarEnergy LNG, which has a 3 mtpa supply obligation with PetroChina.
Egypt emerges as prominent destination for US cargoes
Attention has fixed on the rotation of US cargoes from Europe to Asia, but a third destination has been quietly absorbing Atlantic supply. Counted by sailing date, US terminals despatched 20 cargoes to Egypt in June, double May's ten and the most in any month on record.
JKM-TTF spreads widen, opens arbitrage for US LNG to Asia
The arbitrage for flexible US LNG cargoes heading to Asia is open with spreads between the Japan Korea Marker (JKM) and the Dutch TTF widening, as the tepid recovery of Qatari and UAE LNG exports is unlikely to outpace rebounding Asian demand.
US cargoes rotate to the Pacific as Europe's intake weakens
Europe's LNG intake fell about 16 percent in June, and reporting has placed the decline on lower US deliveries. The vessel record complicates that reading. US terminals loaded 151 cargoes in June, level with the 149 of May and above the 2025 monthly average of 136. Loadings did not fall. What changed was where the gas went.
LNG feedgas ramp to US Gulf cools Henry Hub summer prices
Henry Hub cash and bal-summer price are set to soften as additional Texas-to-Louisiana pipeline capacity boosts LNG feedgas flows towards the US Gulf Coast, easing oversupply in Texas.
