Qatar maintained its dominance in liquefied natural gas exports, having exported 104.8 billion cubic meters (bcm) of LNG in 2019, according to BP's Statistical Review of World Energy 2019 report.
The Gulf country's main LNG market was the Asia-Pacific region with a total of 77.3 bcm. The main recipient of Qatari LNG was South Korea with 19.6 bcm while India imported 14.8 bcm. The country's LNG exports to EU were 22.6 bcm.
According to BP's report, last year's second biggest LNG exporter was Australia with 91.8 bcm. Malaysia followed with 33 bcm and the U.S. was ranked third with 28.4 bcm.
Australian LNG's biggest recipient was the Asian region, with Japan having imported 39.1 bcm, followed by China (32.1 bcm )and South Korea (10.8 bcm). The only recipient of Australian LNG out of the Asian region was United Arab Emirates with 0.2 billion cubic meters in 2018.
The U.S. is expected to increase its LNG export capacity in the coming years, as construction of one LNG terminal takes around four years.
The main LNG step from the U.S. and more active LNG facilities in Australia are expected in 2022
- Japan largest importer
The global LNG market's main trader region was Asia-Pacific with Japan leading with its 113 bcm of LNG imports.
The country was followed by China, South Korea and India, which imported 73.5, 60.2 bcm and 30.6 bcm of LNG, respectively.
In Europe, the main LNG importers were Spain with 15 bcm while Turkey purchased 11.5 bcm.
By Murat Temizer
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr