China was top destination for US LNG shipments in July

The DOE report shows that US terminals shipped 33.4 Bcf of LNG to China in July, 28.3 Bcf to India, 26.8 Bcf to Japan, 24.3 Bcf to Egypt, and 24.1 Bcf to South Korea.

These five countries took 42.3 percent of total US LNG exports in July.

In June, South Korea was the top destination for US LNG cargoes, and India was the top destination in May when Asia overtook Europe as the main destination for US LNG supplies.

Before that, Dutch and French LNG import terminals were the top destinations for US LNG supplies in March and April.

According to DOE’s data, the Netherlands was the top destination for US LNG supplies in January-July with 287.1 Bcf or 86 cargoes, down by 20 percent year-on-year, while France took 216.3 Bcf or 66 cargoes, down by 21 percent year-on-year.

In 2023, the Netherlands was also the prime destination for US LNG cargoes with 588.6 Bcf, followed by France with 493.2 Bcf.

US LNG exports drop

The US exported 323.9 Bcf of LNG in July to 31 countries, down by 7.3 percent compared to the same month in 2023 and a drop of 9.1 percent from the prior month, the DOE report shows.

Asia received 163.8 Bcf or 50.6 percent of these volumes, while Europe received 104.3 Bcf or 32.2 percent and Latin America/Caribbean received 31.5 Bcf or 9.7 percent.

The DOE said that 83.7 percent of total July LNG exports went to non-free trade agreement countries, while the remaining 16.3 percent went to free trade agreement countries.

Moreover, US terminals shipped 104 LNG cargoes in July, down from 119 LNG cargoes in June.

Cheniere’s Sabine Pass plant sent 38 cargoes, and its Corpus Christi terminal shipped 18 cargoes, while Sempra’s Cameron LNG plant shipped 19 cargoes and Venture Global’s Calcasieu plant sent 12 cargoes during the month under review.

The Freeport LNG terminal sent only 8 cargoes, the Cove Point LNG terminal dispatched 6 shipments, and Elba Island LNG sent 3 cargoes.

Freeport LNG resumed operations at all three liquefaction trains on July 29 after the terminal’s fin fan air coolers were damaged during Hurricane Beryl.

Average price at 6.47/MMBtu

According to DOE’s report, the average price by export terminal reached 6.47/MMBtu in July.

This compares to 6.37/MMBtu in July 2023, while the average price was 6.32/MMBtu in June 5.41/MMBtu in May, 5.25/MMBtu in April, $5.47/MMBtu in March, $6.31/MMBtu in February, and 6.63/MMBtu in January this year.

The most expensive average price in July came from Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass terminal, and it reached $9.40/MMBtu.

Prices at other facilities ranged between $5.66-$6.75/MMBtu, the data shows.

6453 cargoes

The report said that from February 2016 through July 2024, the US exported 6453 cargoes or 20,412.8 Bcf to 41 countries.

The DOE data shows that South Korea remains the top destination for US LNG, with 628 cargoes, followed by Japan with 515 cargoes, France with 521 cargoes, the Netherlands with 475 cargoes, and the UK with 468 cargoes.

France took more shipments than Japan but fewer volumes.

In addition to these five countries, Spain, China, India, Turkiye, and Brazil are in the top ten.