Tanker tracking data showed global LNG exports saw a year-on-year decline compared for the third straight month in July, mostly due to steep drops in loadings from the US and Australia. Global LNG exports decreased by around 8% to 27.2 million tons in July from 29.7 million tons in the same month last year. This is the sharpest year-on-year fall since the first loading decline in May.
US LNG exporters led the decline, with loadings of 1.9 million tons last month, about 1.24 million tons below exports a year earlier. This contrasted the increase in US liquefaction capacity, which stood at 74 million tons/year in July, compared to 46 million tons/year a year earlier. The COVID-19 pandemic put heavy pressure on global gas consumption.
Global gas prices also plunged to the extent that lifting US cargoes became uneconomical. US LNG exports are seen to remain at low levels for the next few months, with trade press reports showing customers had cancelled 45 cargoes for August delivery and about 30 cargoes for September shipments. This follows 46 and 50 cargoes cancelled in June and July, respectively.
Australian LNG exports stood at 5.79 million tons in July, decreasing by around 1.04 million tons from a year earlier. The country’s LNG shipments had already slumped to a 16-month low of 5.83 million tons in June, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed. The decrease partly reflected the shutdown of the Shell-operated 3.6 million tons/year Prelude facility since February and maintenance at the second train at Chevron’s 15.6 million tons/year Gorgon LNG plant since May.
