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Natural gas explained Liquefied natural gas

What is liquefied natural gas?

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas that has been cooled to a liquid state (liquefied), to about -260° Fahrenheit, for shipping and storage. The volume of natural gas in its liquid state is about 600 times smaller than its volume in its gaseous state in a natural gas pipeline. This liquefaction process, developed in the 19th century, makes it possible to transport natural gas to places natural gas pipelines do not reach and to use natural gas as a transportation fuel.

LNG increases markets for natural gas

Where natural gas pipelines are not feasible or do not exist, liquefying natural gas is a way to move natural gas from producing regions to markets, such as to and from the United States and other countries. Asian countries, combined, account for the largest share of global LNG imports.

LNG export facilities receive natural gas by pipeline and liquefy the gas for transport on special ocean-going LNG ships, or tankers. Most LNG is transported by tankers called LNG carriers in large, onboard, super-cooled (cryogenic) tanks. LNG is also transported in smaller International Organization for Standardization (ISO)-compliant containers that can be placed on ships and on trucks.

At import terminals, LNG is offloaded from ships and is stored in cryogenic storage tanks before it is returned to its gaseous state, or regasified. After regasification, the natural gas is transported by natural gas pipelines to natural gas-fired power plants, industrial facilities, and residential and commercial customers.

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Natural gas is transported on specially designed ships as liquefied natural gas (LNG). LNG is natural gas that is cooled to -260° Fahrenheit, the temperature at which natural gas becomes a liquid. The volume of the liquid is 600 times smaller than the gaseous form.

A photograph of an ocean-going ship transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG)

An ocean-going LNG carrier

Source: Stock photo (copyrighted)

In the United States, some power plants make and store LNG onsite to generate electricity when electricity demand is high (such as during cold or hot weather) or when pipeline delivery capacity is constrained or insufficient to meet increased demand for natural gas by other consumers. This process is called peak shaving. The power plants take natural gas from natural gas pipelines, liquefy it in small-scale liquefaction facilities, and store it in cryogenic tanks. The LNG is regasified and burned by the power plants when needed. Some ships, trucks, and buses have specially designed LNG tanks to use LNG as fuel.

U.S. LNG imports peaked in 2007

The United States imported very small amounts of LNG until 1995, when LNG imports began increasing each year until they peaked in 2007 at about 771 billion cubic feet (Bcf), whioh was equal to about 17% of total natural gas imports. LNG imports have declined in most years since 2007. U.S. natural gas production has increased and the natural gas pipeline network has expanded since 2007, reducing the need to import natural gas in subsequent years.

In 2022, the United States imported about 25.27 Bcf of LNG from just two countries, which was about 1% of total U.S. natural gas imports in 2022.

  • The source countries, amounts, and percentage shares of total U.S. LNG imports in 2022 were: 1
  • Trinidad and Tobago 23.53 Bcf 93%
  • Canada 1.73 Bcf 7%

In 2022, two LNG regasification terminals, located in the New England region, accounted for all U.S. LNG imports delivered by LNG carriers. The Everett LNG regasification terminal near Boston, Massachusetts, received 82% of total U.S. LNG imports, all from Trinidad and Tobago. The Northeast Gateway LNG terminal, located in Massachusetts Bay, received 11% of total LNG imports, which were all from Trinidad and Tobago. The remaining 7% were containerized LNG imports delivered by truck from Canada. New England states—Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont—historically have pipeline constraints during the winter months when heating demand increases substantially during very cold weather. LNG imports help to meet natural gas demand in New England because the region has limited pipeline interconnections within the Northeast or with other U.S. natural gas-producing regions.

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U.S. LNG export capacity and exports increased substantially between 2016 and 2022

The United States was a net exporter of LNG in 2016 through 2022 (exports were greater than imports), largely because of increases in U.S. natural gas production, declines in LNG imports, and increases in LNG export terminal capacity.

U.S. LNG baseload export capacity increased from about 1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2016 to about 11.4 Bcf/d at the end of 2022. Total peak export capacity in 2022 was about 13.9 Bcf/d. In 2016, total U.S. LNG exports averaged 0.5 Bcf/d to 17 countries. In 2022, U.S. LNG exports averaged 10.59 Bcf/day to 34 countries and accounted for 56% of total U.S. natural gas exports. LNG exports to Europe increased substantially in 2022, largely in response to European countries’ reduced natural gas imports by pipeline from Russia. EIA forecasts LNG exports to increase in 2024 because two new LNG liquefaction projects are expected to come online.

  • The top five destination countries, amounts exported, and percentage shares of total U.S. LNG exports in 2022 were: 2
  • France 571 Bcf 15%
  • United Kingdom 461 Bcf 12%
  • Spain 427 Bcf 11%
  • The Netherlands 378 Bcf 10%
  • South Korea 293 Bcf 8%

In 2022, LNG carriers transported nearly all U.S. LNG exports. About 1.6 Bcf of U.S. LNG exports were by truck in ISO containers to Canada and Mexico, with 95% going to Mexico.

Sometimes, when natural gas prices are favorable to do so, the United States re-exports some of the LNG that it originally imported. However, in 2022, the United States did not re-export any LNG.

LNG export terminals consume natural gas to liquefy natural gas

Not all of the natural gas delivered to LNG export facilities (feed gas) is exported as LNG because LNG export terminals consume some of the feed gas to operate on-site liquefaction equipment. EIA estimates that approximately 14% of LNG feed gas is used for liquefaction processes, mostly to operate on-site liquefaction equipment. All U.S. LNG export facilities, except Freeport LNG, use natural gas turbine-driven refrigerant compressors to convert natural gas to LNG. Freeport LNG is the only liquefaction facility in the United States that uses electric motors instead of natural gas turbines to drive refrigerant compressors. As a result, most of Freeport LNG’s feed gas is converted into LNG.3

1 Data source: Natural Gas Monthly, Table 4, June 2023, preliminary data for 2022.
2 Data source: Natural Gas Monthly, Table 5, June 2023, preliminary data for 2022.
3 The U.S. Energy Information Administration does not publish data specifically on the volumes of natural gas consumed for LNG liquefaction. Those volumes are included, but are not itemized, in the data for natural gas consumption for pipeline and distribution use.

Last updated: August 11, 2023, with data from the Natural Gas Monthly, June 2023; data for 2022 are preliminary.