Energy majors and commodities traders are playing an outsized role in supporting a global LNG export buildout that ultimately could saturate the market with the super-chilled fuel later this decade, bring prices down and stoke future demand.

About 150 million metric tons/year (mmty) of additional liquefaction capacity is under construction across North America and in Qatar, most of which is expected to come online by 2027. The bulk of that capacity is being built in Canada, Mexico and the United States, where liquefied natural gas output is set to double over the next four years. 

Majors have taken equity stakes in Qatar’s massive North Field LNG project, which, along with the United States, is leading the global natural gas supply push. The...