Explore the Global Gas Infrastructure Tracker
The Global Gas Infrastructure Tracker (GGIT) collects asset-level data on gas transmission pipelines and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals globally. Explore the data below, pan through our interactive map, and download the dataset here.
Gas currently makes up about one quarter of the world’s primary energy supply, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) represents about 15% of this — a small but growing fraction, as gas is being touted as a transition fuel and a means of energy independence in the face of geopolitical tension. An ongoing LNG boom, which started at the end of the twentieth century, has reshaped the global energy industry and has become a major component of many industrializing economies’ planned future energy mix.
The LNG export boom
Global LNG exports began picking up speed in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with lulls in the early 2010s and again during Covid-19 lockdowns. In the past few years, the volume of LNG export capacity proposed or under construction has skyrocketed, a result of major producing countries like the United States and Qatar ratcheting up their export ambitions to feed a growing appetite for LNG in Europe and Asia.
The countries with the largest operating capacities are the United States, Australia, and Qatar.
Many of the countries that lead the world in export capacity are also at the forefront of a global expansion. The top five countries below — the United States, Russia, Canada, Mexico, and Qatar — account for about 75% of all potential new LNG export projects.
Global import capacity has followed suit
Global LNG import capacity began to grow in the mid-1980s, with decadal lulls since, but a gradual upward trend.
The countries with the largest LNG import capacities in the world are in East Asia: Japan, South Korea, and China. Advanced and industrializing economies across Europe and the Americas have also been major importers.
Looking ahead, China is responsible for about one-third of planned LNG import capacity globally, followed by India, Germany, and Brazil.
Projects are being planned on coastlines across the world. Import terminals are in development throughout Asia, Europe, and South America. Export terminals are planned across North America and Mexico, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East, in countries that currently produce, or soon hope to produce, significant amounts of gas.
Trillion-dollar plans
The estimated cost to build all in-development terminals globally would surpass US$1 trillion. See below for the breakdown across the world’s subregions.
Download data from the Global Gas Infrastructure Tracker, including pipeline routes in GIS format, here.