There she blows
LNG from the US’ lower 48 has set sail on troubled waters
AT LONG last, the first shipment of liquefied natural gas left from Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass export terminal on the Gulf of Mexico for Brazil on 24 February, marking the entrance of the US as a major player on global gas markets. Celebrations, though, were muted. New US exporters will have to carve out a role for themselves in a glutted market with a markedly poor short-term demand outlook. Sabine Pass was the first of a wave of five LNG export projects that are under construction and will start exporting the US’ bounty of shale gas riches before the end of the decade. A second train at Sabine Pass will be completed in the coming months followed by trains three and four in six-to-nine m
Also in this section
16 January 2026
The country’s global energy importance and domestic political fate are interlocked, highlighting its outsized oil and gas powers, and the heightened fallout risk
16 January 2026
The global maritime oil transport sector enters 2026 facing a rare convergence of crude oversupply, record newbuild deliveries and the potential easing of several geopolitical disruptions that have shaped trade flows since 2022
15 January 2026
Rebuilding industry, energy dominance and lower energy costs are key goals that remain at odds in 2026
14 January 2026
Chavez’s socialist reforms boosted state control but pushed knowledge and capital out of the sector, opening the way for the US shale revolution
