The U.S. could experience some oversupply of liquefied natural gas between 2027 and 2029, but supply will tighten in 2030, Toby Rice, the CEO of natural gas producer EQT Corp, told Reuters on Thursday. Rice was speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Houston. TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne warned earlier this month of a potential supply glut in the market if all planned U.S. LNG projects come online. The U.S. is the world’s top LNG exporter, with total annual capacity expected to reach 115 million tons this year, as even more projects remain in the pipeline, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
EQT is timing its exposure to LNG markets for the anticipated market conditions, Rice added. The company earlier this month signed an agreement with Commonwealth LNG to secure one million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of liquefaction capacity. Rice’s comments echoed the stance taken by Woodside Energy (WDS.AX) CEO Meg O’Neill, who on Monday brushed off concerns about potential oversupply and said demand would likely grow 50% over the next decade.
Uday Turaga, the founder of energy research and consulting firm ADI Analytics, also told Reuters on the sidelines of the conference in Houston that while “there could be small periods of oversupply, the market has largely been able to absorb LNG and we don’t see any reason why that would change.”
“Prices for LNG, particularly to Asia, may go down as more supply comes online, and those lower prices should drive new customers,” he added.
(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by Nathan Crooks and Paul Simao)