U.S. natural gas trade will continue to grow with the startup of new LNG export projects

In our recently released Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), we forecast that U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports will continue to lead growth in U.S. natural gas trade as three LNG export projects currently under construction start operations and ramp up to full production by the end of 2025. We also forecast increased natural gas exports by pipeline, mainly to Mexico. In our STEO forecast, net exports of U.S. natural gas (exports minus imports) grow 6% from 2023 in 2024 to 13.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d). In 2025, net exports increase another 20% to 16.4 Bcf/d.