Russia, War and Big Changes for Liquified Natural Gas (LNG)

Wow, have things changed a lot in the last two months! Russia's unprovoked attack on Ukraine in February has literally changed the world. Our hearts and prayers go out to the Ukrainian people who are experiencing unimaginable suffering. Tens of thousands of people have died and many more have had their lives upended. Now two months later Sweden and Finland appear ready to join NATO. Russia has been cut off from the world financial system and their economy is in a tailspin. And the energy market has been completely disrupted. Let's talk about LNG. Those who pay close attention to the LNG market in the USA have seen sweeping changes over the last 15 years. LNG plants were planned and built to import LNG to the USA. By the time they were finished the USA had a natural gas surplus. These plants were repurposed from being import terminals to export terminals. Many European countries believed they had a stable relationship with Russia and made long term plans to import energy from Russia ( Germany's Faustian Pact With Russia Haunts Industrial Giants). Now they are trying to find alternative suppliers of natural gas. Before Russia invaded Ukraine, American production was ramping up slowly but surely, and had taken world leadership in LNG exports ( U.S. Cements LNG Export Crown as Venture Global Fires Up Plant). As of today there are seven such export facilities ( North American LNG Export Terminals - Existing). Now American companies are rushing to fast track additional LNG export capacity:

Who would have thought? AFT software has been used for many years on LNG projects. Here are three examples:

Discussion of Issues Related to Surge in LNG Pipelines at Offloading Terminals

Surge in LNG pipe systems is particularly complicated because operations are often near the saturation point. Even small transients can lead to transient cavitation and all the associated issues. The world has certainly changed in the last two months.