International Gas Union 2023 World LNG Report

The International Gas Union (IGU) today released the 14th annual edition of the World LNG Report. As of April 2023, the global LNG trade connected 20 exporting markets with 48 importing markets, showcasing the increasing globalization of the LNG market and its ability to redirect massive volumes of energy in a matter of months.
 
Highlights from the report:

Global Liquefaction Capacity: In 2022, the world's liquefaction capacity witnessed a notable growth of 4.3%, reaching a total of 478.4 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). The United States contributed significantly to this increase, accounting for 75% of the expansion and securing its position as the largest operational liquefaction capacity worldwide, with 88.1 MTPA. However, the volume of approved liquefaction capacity declined to 25.2 MTPA in 2022, compared to the 50 MTPA approved the previous year.

Regasification Capacity: Another remarkable aspect of 2022 was the record-setting approval and rapid commissioning of new regasification capacity in Europe. The high prices observed in the European market incentivized the redirection of LNG flows from Asia to Europe, effectively balancing the short-term market. However, this shift also resulted in demand destruction in some Asian markets. For the first time, the traditionally higher-priced Asian spot market benchmarks traded at a discount to the European market for 85% of the February 2022 to January 2023 period.

Changing Asian LNG Market: Asian demand for LNG experienced significant reductions in many locations. Notably, China and India, the two fastest-growing LNG markets in recent years, reduced their imports by 19.3% and 17.7% respectively. This decline was primarily driven by the aforementioned redirection of LNG flows to Europe due to the attractive prices offered in the European market. However, it's important to note that the price moderation observed at the beginning of 2023 does not eliminate the ongoing risk of a return to the challenging conditions experienced in 2022.

2023 World LNG Report can be downloaded in PDF form from The International Gas Union website here.