The United States was the largest exporter of liquefied natural gas in 2023, according to federal data.
U.S. exports of LNG totaled nearly 12 billion cubic feet a day, more than any other country, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Europe was the biggest customer of U.S. LNG last year as the continent continues a shift that started with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
About 66 percent of U.S. LNG exports went to European countries, primarily the Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom.
Asia was the second biggest market for U.S. LNG at 26 percent. Japan and South Korea were the largest importers.
Australia and Qatar trailed the United States, with about 10 billion cubic feet of LNG exported from each. Further down were Russia and Malaysia, each with less than 5 billion cubic feet.
West Virginia, the fourth largest U.S. producer of natural gas, produced 3 trillion cubic feet in 2023, according to the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia. Some of it was exported as LNG through the Cove Point terminal in southern Maryland.
The state’s gas industry expects the mid-year opening of the controversial and delayed Mountain Valley Pipeline, which will have a capacity of 2 billion cubic feet per day.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has sharply increased gas production in the Appalachian Basin in the past 15 years.