LNG data Q2 ‘22: Unplanned maintenance slows supply growth, Europe ups imports

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Global LNG supply continued to grow in Q2 ‘22 but at a slower rate than in the first quarter. Output was up by 3.22 mt (3.5%), compared with an increase of 6.1 mt (6.3%) in Q1, the result of planned and unplanned maintenance at liquefaction plants in the US, Australia, Indonesia, Qatar and Angola.

Maintenance is often scheduled in the second quarter of the year, as the demand for heating in northern hemisphere markets declines and before the demand for air-conditioning rises, but unplanned maintenance added to the reduction in supply. The most serious – and the one that will affect production until March next year – was in early June, when an explosion and fire halted operations at the 15 mtpa Freeport LNG plant.

Production from Prelude LNG in Australia also stopped in June, as workers at the floating liquefaction unit went on strike. In May, one train at Qatar’s RasGas plant was offline for three weeks for unplanned maintenance.