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The DOE LNG monthly report shows that US terminals shipped 95.7 Bcf to Turkiye (16.8 percent), 67.4 Bcf to the United Kingdom (11.8 percent), 47.1 Bcf to Egypt (8.3 percent), 45.8 Bcf to Germany (8 percent), and 43.5 Bcf to the Netherlands (7.6 percent) in December.
These five countries took 52.6 percent of total US LNG exports in December.
Before this, Turkiye was the top destination for US LNG cargoes in November, the Netherlands was the top destination in October, September, and August last year, and Egypt was the top destination in July for the first time in DOE’s LNG monthly reports.
The Netherlands was the top destination for US LNG supplies in June and May, Spain was the top destination in April, France was the top destination in March, while LNG import terminals in Turkiye and the UK were the top destinations for US LNG cargoes in January and February 2025.
In 2025, the Netherlands was the top destination with 646.1 Bcf, a 39 percent rise compared to the previous year, followed by France with 533.1 Bcf, a rise of 50 percent from 2024.
December LNG exports up
The DOE report shows that the US exported 569.3 Bcf of LNG to 28 countries in December, up 38.6 percent from the same month in 2024 and a rise of 8.4 percent compared to the prior month.
This quantity is approximately 11.8 million metric tons of LNG.
In September 2024, Europe again became the preferred destination for US LNG cargoes over Asia, and this remained the case to date.
Europe received 431.5 Bcf (75.8 percent), Asia 68.2 Bcf (12 percent), Africa 48.5 Bcf (8.5 percent), and Latin America/Caribbean 21.1 Bcf (3.7 percent) in December.
DOE said that 93.7 percent of total LNG exports went to non-free trade agreement countries, while the remaining 6.3 percent went to free trade agreement countries.
Moreover, US terminals shipped 168 LNG cargoes in December, 15 cargoes more compared to 153 LNG cargoes in November.
Cheniere’s Sabine Pass plant sent 38 cargoes, and its Corpus Christi terminal shipped 25 cargoes, while Venture Global’s Plaquemines plant shipped 31 cargoes and Sempra Infrastructure’s Cameron LNG terminal shipped 23 cargoes.
The Freeport LNG terminal shipped 21 cargoes, while Venture Global’s Calcasieu plant sent 15 cargoes.
In addition, the Cove Point LNG terminal sent nine cargoes and the Elba Island plant shipped five cargoes during the month under review.
DOE noted that NFE’s Altamira LNG terminal in Mexico shipped one cargo in December. This project receives feed gas from the US and Mexico.
Average price at 8.14/MMBtu
According to DOE’s report, the average price by export terminal reached 8.14/MMBtu in December.
This compares to 7.38/MMBtu in December 2024 and 7.48/MMBtu in November 2025.
The highest average price in December was recorded at Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG terminal, which reached $10.34/MMBtu.
Prices at other facilities ranged between $4.24/MMBtu (Elba Island) to $9.92/MMBtu (Altamira), the data shows.
8,749 cargoes
The report said that from February 2016 through December 2025, the US exported 8,749 cargoes or 27,808.9 Bcf to 45 countries.
The DOE data shows that South Korea remains the top destination for US LNG, with 739 cargoes, followed by the Netherlands with 714 cargoes, France with 724 cargoes, Japan with 624 cargoes, and the UK with 618 cargoes.
France took more cargoes but fewer volumes than the Netherlands.
In addition to these five countries, Spain, China, Turkiye, India, and Italy are in the top ten.