U.S. leads world in gasoline, liquefied natural gas, and propane exports, according to EIA
Energize Weekly, October 2, 2024
The U.S. was the world’s major exporter of gasoline, propane, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2023 – aided by growing capacity in refineries and LNG terminals, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.
The rise in motor fuel exports marked a sharp turnaround for the U.S, which was a net importer of gasoline for five decades until 2015 when exports started flowing, and refined product exports set records in 2022 and 2023.
The U.S. supplied more than 16 percent of total global exports. U.S. gasoline exports in 2023, averaged 900,000 barrels a day. That was equivalent to about 10 percent of domestic consumption – enough to fill up the tanks of more than 1.5 million SUVs per day, assuming an average tank size of 24 gallons.
Other major gasoline exporters, such as Singapore and the Netherlands, have never exceeded 700,000 barrels a day in gasoline exports. China and India have both added significant refining capacity since 2010 and have increased gasoline exports.
“The growth in U.S. refined product exports reflects several factors, including generally increasing refinery capacity from 2010 to 2023 and rising production from existing refineries through increased utilization,” the EIA said.
Another boost came from the boom in hydraulic fracking of shale oil plays, which enable the U.S. to also become the world’s largest oil producer with an average of 12.9 million barrels a day in 2023. Refineries added light crude processing units to handle the growing volumes of light shale oil.
“Finally, although refinery capacity has grown, U.S. consumption of gasoline has not, making more gasoline available for export,” the EIA said. Gasoline consumption in 2023 was flat compared with 2010 and 400,000 barrels a day less than its 2018 peak.
The majority of U.S. gasoline exports – more than 500,000 barrels a day – goes to Mexico with the remainder going primarily to Central American and South American countries.
In December 2023, the U.S. also set a record of 1.9 billion barrels a day for propane exports – the largest volume since the EIA began collecting this data in 1973.
“Increased exports resulted from the highest propane price spread between the U.S. Gulf Coast and East Asia in a decade due to petrochemical and space heating demand,” the agency said. More propane is exported than is consumed in the U.S.
The U.S. also set a record for LNG exports in 2023 of 11.9 billion cubic feet a day (Bcf/d) – a 12 percent increase over 2022 – overtaking Qatar as the world’s largest exporter. “Expanded export and import capacity and increasing natural gas demand drove the growth in global LNG trade last year,” the EIA said.
In the U.S., “the large buildout of LNG export capacity enabled LNG exports to grow from an annual average of 0.5 Bcf/d in 2016 to 11.9 Bcf/d in 2023,” the EIA said.
At the end of 2023, the U.S. baseload export capacity was 11.44 Bcf/d with a peak export capacity of 14.01 Bcf/d. Projects under construction are projected to bring U.S. export capacity to 24.4 Bcf/d by 2028.
There are currently seven LNG terminals operating and five terminals under construction.
“Relatively strong demand for LNG in Europe high international natural gas prices supported increased U.S. LNG exports during the year,” the EIA said. The Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom were the major importers, combining for 4.2 Bcf/d or 35 percent off all U.S. LNG exports.
Australia and Qatar – the world’s two other largest LNG exporters – averaged between 10.1 Bcf/d and 10.5 Bcf/d annually between 2020 and 2023, according to data from Paris-based Cedigaz, a gas market clearinghouse.
