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The significant increase in U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports is driving a substantial rise in domestic natural gas consumption, which has now reached a record level of 18 billion cubic feet, with expectations that it will rise to 40 billion cubic feet in the future. Over the past few years, the United States has rapidly emerged as the world’s largest exporter of LNG. At the same time, natural gas prices in the U.S. have risen further, increasing by 62% compared to last year. The U.S. LNG industry has entered a phase of rapid development, but this may merely be the beginning of even greater growth. Anatoly Feigin, CEO of Chener Energy, said at a recent industry event that the demand for natural gas at U.S. LNG plants would surge from 18 billion cubic feet to 40 billion cubic feet, which would further drive up gas prices. As a result, natural gas prices in the United States have soared by 62% compared to last year. Feigen pointed out that after the pandemic, LNG capacity utilization recovered rapidly and continued to rise; natural gas prices on the NYMEX once reached high levels in the single digits. The supply side also responded quickly, which suggests that natural gas producers may be more willing to expand their production capacity. However, some analysts predict that as U.S. energy companies compete to capture a share of the global LNG market, the large-scale deployment of new production capacity will lead to lower LNG prices next year, with the growth rate of global LNG supply potentially exceeding that of demand. But low-priced LNG may stimulate demand from price-sensitive energy importing countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh. Feggin believes that although U.S. LNG supply will reach record levels, strong demand from price-sensitive importing countries will drive the need for additional LNG production capacity around the world in the coming year, with an expected annual increase of 30 million tons. Jack Waxell, senior director at East Daley Analytics, also predicts that by 2030, U.S. LNG production capacity will rise from the current 15.5 billion cubic feet per day to 30 billion cubic feet per day, almost doubling; if all projects proceed as planned, the capacity could reach at least 25 billion cubic feet per day by 2028. Analysts predict that U.S. LNG exports will increase by 75% by 2030, and combined with the additional demand for natural gas driven by the development of artificial intelligence in tech giants, this will inevitably push up natural gas prices. Reports from the CME Group show that Europe’s record demand for U.S. LNG has pushed prices to their highest level in two years, while data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration indicates that the average price of U.S. LNG exports this year is $8 per thousand cubic feet. However, it is doubtful whether Europe will be able to afford U.S. LNG prices in the future, especially as these prices are likely to rise further in the coming years due to increasing demand. Some argue that natural gas producers may face the problem of depleted high-quality extraction areas, leading to higher costs for new production capacity; however, other analyses suggest that there are ample untapped natural gas reserves underground, allowing the supply side to respond quickly to changes in demand and thus prevent excessive price increases. In short, the global LNG industry is set to experience a period of prosperity in the coming years, but the United States will not be the only country to thrive. Qatar plans to raise its annual LNG export capacity to 126 million tons by 2027, which will undoubtedly put downward pressure on prices.