Global LNG Capacity Tracker

This tracker monitors final investment decisions (FIDs) for new LNG export projects and provides data on liquefaction capacity additions through 2030, based on projects under construction as of 2025 and the latest ramp-up schedules. Between 2025 and 2030, more than 330 bcm/yr of new LNG export capacity is set to come online from projects that had already reached FID and were under construction as of 2025, marking the largest wave of capacity additions to date. The pace and scale of this buildout could shift due to geopolitical events, construction delays, new project FIDs and other uncertainties. The trajectory of this LNG wave will have significant implications for the global gas market balance, and this tracker offers an up-to-date view of anticipated global LNG capacity growth.

The LNG industry is highly cyclical due to the capital-intensive nature and long lead times of liquefaction projects. The industry has been in the midst of a multi-year investment cycle since 2019, interrupted only briefly by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and the LNG permitting pause in the United States in 2024.

Between 2019 and October 2026, more than 430 bcm/yr of LNG export capacity reached FID, averaging over 55 bcm/yr of new capacity annually. This is more than double the average annual rate of capacity approvals during the 2014–2018 period. The United States has been the dominant driver of LNG liquefaction project FIDs, accounting for nearly 55% of the total since 2019. Qatar is a distant second, with around 15%, while the remaining roughly 30% is spread across more than a dozen suppliers in the Middle East, Africa, North America, South America, the Asia Pacific region and Russia.

Investment activity accelerated to a near-record high in 2025, matching the previous peak in 2019, when close to 100 bcm/yr of new liquefaction capacity reached FID, more than 85% of it in the United States. The investment cycle continued into 2026 as well. Between January and October 2026, four final investment decisions were announced, representing nearly 46 bcm/yr of combined capacity: CP2 LNG Phase 2 (March 2026), Commonwealth LNG (May 2026) and Delfin LNG (June 2026) in the United States and LNG Canada Phase 2 (September 2026) in Canada.

Between 2025 and 2030, a total of more than 330 bcm/yr of new LNG export capacity is expected to come online from projects that had already reached FID and were under construction at the start of 2025. This represents the largest wave of LNG capacity additions over any comparable period in the history of LNG markets. This figure excludes capacity additions from Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project (27 bcm/yr) and Qatar’s North Field West expansion (22 bcm/yr) - projects that have been approved but are not progressing towards normal commercial operation.

In the case of Arctic LNG 2, sanctions have restricted regular commercial cargo deliveries from the already completed Train 1, significantly slowed the construction of Train 2, which was ultimately completed in May 2025 but remains similarly constrained by sanctions, and led the developer to place the terminal’s third liquefaction train on hold indefinitely. Qatar’s North Field West expansion project was approved for development in 2024, but no final investment decision or construction activity has been formally announced to date.

Mozambique LNG (18 bcm/yr) declared force majeure and suspended construction between 2021 and 2025 due to an armed insurgency near the project site. However, in November 2025, the project partners lifted the force majeure declaration, and construction officially resumed in January 2026, with first LNG now targeted for 2029. As a result, Mozambique LNG has re-entered the pipeline of projects expected to contribute to the next wave of global LNG supply growth.

By contrast, construction at Qatar’s 43.5 bcm/yr North Field East expansion project has been disrupted following military attacks on the Ras Laffan facility in March 2026, with the expected start-up of the first of the project’s four liquefaction trains now delayed until at least the first half of 2027 from the previous target of end-2026.

Based on the latest ramp-up schedules, annual liquefaction capacity additions from post-FID projects are expected to progressively increase from around 30 bcm/yr in 2025 to a peak of around 90 bcm/yr in 2028, before gradually declining in 2029 and 2030. Geopolitical disruptions – including those related to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East – as well as further project delays, new FIDs or progress on already approved but currently inactive projects, such as Qatar’s North Field West, could materially alter the trajectory of the capacity buildout. At the same time, a number of legacy LNG projects are expected to reduce their output in the coming years, partially offsetting the strong supply growth from new projects.