Through a technology that is more than 50 years old, natural gas is cooled to minus-260 degrees Fahrenheit. The liquefied gas looks like mineral water and its volume is reduced by about 600 percent. LNG experts use an analogy that the same amount of natural gas that would fill a beach ball can, after being liquefied, fit into a golf ball. The LNG goes into large storage tanks and then can be loaded directly onto what are called “membrane cargo tanks” on double-hull ships that can the send the LNG to import facilities around the world. Once at its destination, the LNG is warmed and regasified so it can be used just like existing natural gas. For years, the LNG export market has been dominated by Australia and the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar. But about 10 years ago, what’s called the shale revolution upended the oil and gas industry in the U.S.
Through a technology that is more than 50 years old, natural gas is cooled to minus-260 degrees Fahrenheit. The liquefied gas looks like mineral water and its volume is reduced by about 600 percent. LNG experts use an analogy that the same amount of natural gas that would fill a beach ball can, after being liquefied, fit into a golf ball.
The LNG goes into large storage tanks and then can be loaded directly onto what are called “membrane cargo tanks” on double-hull ships that can the send the LNG to import facilities around the world. Once at its destination, the LNG is warmed and regasified so it can be used just like existing natural gas.
For years, the LNG export market has been dominated by Australia and the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar.
But about 10 years ago, what’s called the shale revolution upended the oil and gas industry in the U.S.