American LNG diplomacy spread thin
Europe’s wartime dash for non-Russian gas complicates US-China trade
The energy world is only starting to comprehend the many ways in which war in Ukraine is disrupting markets. Europe’s push to replace Russian pipeline gas with liquefied natural gas (LNG) promises to recast dynamics between major LNG exporters and importers – and geopolitical relations between global superpowers.
Before Russia invaded Ukraine, the prevailing geopolitical narrative underpinning LNG trade was one of cooperation between adversaries. The emergence of the US and China as the world’s biggest exporter and importer, respectively, bolstered the diplomatic significance of US LNG exports.
The US was the world’s third-biggest LNG exporter in 2021 at almost 75 million tonnes, shortly behind Qatar and Australia. The commissioning of new liquefaction trains (the equipment to chill natural gas into LNG) at Sabine Pass and Calcasieu Pass in Louisiana this year will push US export capacity beyond those two countries and into the global top spot.
At t…
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