US LNG exports projected to surpass 120 million metric tons in 2026, Energy Secretary Wright says
The United States is on pace to export more than 120 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas in 2026, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on September 22. That projection follows a milestone the US already hit this year: it became the first country ever to surpass 100 million metric tons of LNG exports in a single year.
Wright announces 2026 LNG export milestone
Wright made the announcement in a post on X on September 22. “Last year, for the first time in history, a country exported more than 100 million metric tons of LNG — and that country was the United States. And this year, we are on track to surpass 120 million metric tons,” he wrote.
Back-to-back record years. Wright credited companies driving the expansion, pointing to Caturus as one example — a firm that recently announced a major expansion of its Gulf Coast export plant, adding to a broader wave of new capacity coming online.
In February, Senator Elizabeth Warren and other lawmakers sent a letter to Wright raising concerns about what rising LNG exports mean for American consumers.
New Gulf Coast capacity drives export growth
The jump in export volumes isn’t happening by accident. New projects are coming online while existing terminals are getting bigger, and the pace of both has accelerated noticeably.
Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG facility in Louisiana has been ramping up since it started operations. In March, the Department of Energy authorized an immediate 13% capacity increase for the project, bringing its total authorized export capacity to 3.85 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd).
Cheniere Energy’s Corpus Christi LNG project in Texas also got a boost — DOE approved an additional 0.47 bcfd of export authorization in February, raising the project’s total to 4.45 bcfd. That puts Corpus Christi among the largest single LNG export hubs in the country. In April, DOE approved a 22% capacity increase for the Elba Island LNG terminal in Georgia. More US LNG projects remain in development or construction, so the pipeline of new capacity isn’t finished yet.
Export surge raises domestic price concerns
Not everyone’s cheering the export boom. In February, Senator Elizabeth Warren and other lawmakers sent a letter to Wright raising concerns about what rising LNG exports mean for American consumers. They cited analysis from the US Energy Information Administration suggesting that LNG export growth is pushing domestic natural gas prices higher — more gas leaving the country means less supply at home, which can drive up heating and electricity bills.
Those concerns aren’t going away. Domestic demand for natural gas is climbing too, driven partly by rapid construction of data centers and AI infrastructure. That buildout requires enormous amounts of electricity, much of it generated from gas, so exports and domestic demand are now competing for the same supplies simultaneously.
So far, the domestic market has held up. After a cold-weather price spike in January, Henry Hub natural gas prices have hovered around $3 per million British thermal units since spring 2025 — a stability that suggests US production has largely kept pace with the combined pressure of rising exports and growing demand at home.
The EIA projects US marketed natural gas production will increase by 4.5 bcfd in 2026 and another 4.6 bcfd in 2027. The Permian Basin in Texas and the Haynesville Shale in Louisiana and Texas together account for more than 70% of that projected growth. Higher oil prices — and the associated gas that comes with increased oil production — are part of what’s driving those gains.
US position as world’s largest LNG exporter and global context
The US didn’t become the world’s largest LNG exporter overnight. The shift has been building for years, accelerated by the collapse of Russian pipeline gas supplies to Europe after the invasion of Ukraine. European buyers scrambled for alternatives, and US Gulf Coast terminals were well-positioned to fill the gap.
Geography gives the US a real edge. Gulf Coast terminals can reach both European and Asian markets — Europe via the Atlantic, Asia via the Panama Canal — and that flexibility lets cargo operators redirect shipments toward wherever prices are highest at any given moment. It’s what makes the US the global “marginal supplier” of LNG, a role carrying serious market influence.
That strategic value has grown even more pronounced in 2025. Iranian disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have cut into LNG supplies from Qatar and other Gulf producers, while US production and liquefaction infrastructure, located far from that chokepoint, has been unaffected. Secretary Wright (on X) specifically cited the Hormuz disruptions when approving the Plaquemines expansion in March. With traditional supply routes under pressure, global buyers are actively looking to diversify — and US LNG keeps rising to the top of that list.
Driven by capacity expansions
The core facts are straightforward. The US surpassed 100 million metric tons of LNG exports for the first time in 2025 and is projected to exceed 120 million metric tons in 2026, driven by capacity expansions at Plaquemines, Corpus Christi, Elba Island, and other facilities.
Domestic gas prices have stayed relatively stable near $3/MMbtu, and EIA forecasts substantial production growth through 2027. Concerns from lawmakers about the impact on consumer energy costs remain on the table — and they’re likely to get louder as capacity keeps expanding.
Globally, US LNG plays an increasingly important role as a flexible, geopolitically stable supply source. That position looks set to strengthen further as new projects move from development into operation.
Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.
