The United States will surpass current market leaders Australia and Qatar to become the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter in 2024, a high-ranking official at the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday. The U.S. exports of LNG are expected to exceed 100 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2024, beating Qatar and Australia to the top spot, IEA’s Head of the Gas, Coal and Power Markets Division, Peter Fraser, said at a presentation sponsored by Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs Centre on Global Energy Policy. While the U.S. will be the biggest LNG exporter within five years, China will become the top LNG importer, outpacing Japan, according to IEA’s Fraser. Thanks to its massive coal-to-natural gas switch, China became the world’s second-biggest LNG importer in 2017, surpassing South Korea and second only to Japan. Demand for natural gas in China will continue to grow […]