U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports will not significantly increase to Europe this winter.
Charlie Riedl of the Center for LNG reports that U.S. export facilities are currently operating at 116% of nameplate capacity. This infrastructure constraint leaves no room for additional output to meet rising European demand.
Europe currently holds gas storage levels at approximately 42%. This figure sits well below the historical average and the 90% target typically required before winter.
New U.S. LNG projects remain under construction and will not be operational for the upcoming season. This supply bottleneck may support global gas prices even as U.S. domestic prices fall due to high inventory builds.