Another consequence is that U.S. export trade in natural gas skyrocketed. In 2005, the U.S. exported about 700 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas, primarily to Canada and Mexico by pipeline. By 2018, total natural gas exports had increased by a factor of five to 3.6 trillion cubic feet (Tcf).
Most of this growth was in exports to Mexico, which imported 1.7 Tcf of U.S. natural gas in 2018. This is a far greater total than for any other country, and is in fact more than all liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to all countries.
To put this number into perspective, pipeline exports to Mexico are now equivalent to 5.2% of total U.S. natural gas production. These exports are a boon to U.S. natural gas producers, as well as pipeline companies that are building out the pipeline infrastructure to move the gas south of the border.
Natural gas demand in Mexico is projected to continuing growing, as a result of new electrical generation capacity additions. That demand will be primarily satisfied by more imports from the U.S. That is, unless Mexico retaliates and natural gas producers end up paying the sort of price U.S. farmers have paid as casualties in a trade war.
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