Ten Year Anniversary: U.S. LNG Proved Energy Leadership Works

This year marks 10 years since the first modern LNG shipment from the lower-48, a February 2016 milestone that reflects a decade of rising production and a new chapter in global energy trade.

Fast forward to today and the results are hard to miss: The United States is no longer talking about “running out of natural gas” – it’s the world’s largest producer of natural gas and top liquified natural gas exporter.

Since 2016, U.S. natural gas sales and production capacity have followed an upward trend, with total production growing by more than 10 trillion cubic feet and LNG exports increasing by more than 2200 percent in 2024. In fact, LNG exports for any single month in 2025 were more than double the entirety of U.S. LNG exports in 2016, and November 2025 (the most recent available data; 525 billion cubic feet) hitting totals nearly triple that of 2016 (186 Bcf).

This notable achievement happened in one decade, while Americans continued consuming record levels of natural gas at home at stable domestic prices.

When It Comes to U.S. LNG, It’s All About Growth…

To put things in perspective, in 2016, the United States:

Produced nearly 6 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas and consumed just over 27 Tcf.
Imported 3 Tcf of natural gas and exported 3 Tcf.
LNG was a small slice of trade: about 88 Bcf of LNG imports and 186 Bcf of LNG exports.

But numbers have changed dramatically in just one decade. According to the latest data available, in 2024 the United States:

Produced over 37 Tcf of natural gas and consumed about 33 Tcf.
Total imports were 1 Tcf of natural gas, but total exports reached 7.7 Tcf – highest exports on record back to 1970s.
LNG exports reached 3 Tcf.

…Without Having Significant Impacts On Domestic Prices

Critics have claimed for years that higher LNG exports automatically mean higher prices for American consumers. But the last decade of data does not support the scare-story version of this claim.

The U.S. benchmark Herny Hub spot price averaged about $2.5/MMBtu in 2025. In 2023 and 2024, when LNG exports rose above 4.3 Tcf, prices remained at or below $2.5/MMBtu, the lowest annual average on record. In fact, in every year prior to 2016, when the United States kickstarted its LNG growth, Henry Hub average prices were higher than what they were in 2024.

Charlie Riedl, executive director of the Center for LNG, highlighted this dynamic, saying:

“Since the first export in 2016, natural gas production has outpaced LNG export growth nearly threefold, and Henry Hub prices have averaged 37 percent lower than the previous decade.”

What’s Next for U.S. LNG?

U.S. LNG can only go upward and forward. The International Energy Agency projects that global LNG supply growth will accelerate in 2026 to more than 7 percent, its fastest pace since 2019.

Just as important, the IEA also reports that in 2025 more than 90 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year of LNG liquefaction capacity reached final investment decision (second highest after 2019), with the United States accounting for over 80 bcm of approved annual capacity.

That continued buildout matters for more than export volumes. A global LNG market gives the United States a flexible way to support allies during supply disruptions. In 2024, Europe was the top destination for U.S. LNG, taking 53 percent of exports. Additionally, U.S. LNG exports to the European Union in 2025 rose 60 percent compared to the year before, says The New York Times.

Through infrastructure investments and other energy deals, the United States will continue to play a key role in supporting Europe’s LNG transition and goal to phase out Russian oil and gas imports.

The bottom line: Ten years after the first Lower 48 cargo left Sabine Pass LNG terminal, the United States has gone from import-dependent to the world’s LNG export leader, while still powering a massive domestic economy and increasingly helping allies diversify their supply. That is what energy leadership looks like: abundant production, expanding infrastructure, stable global partnerships, and a U.S. LNG sector that moved from newcomer to number one in a decade.

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