Qatar maintained its dominance in liquefied natural gas exports, having exported 103.4 billion cubic meters (bcm) of LNG in 2017, according to BP's Statistical Review of World Energy 2018 report.
The Gulf country's main LNG market was the Asia-Pacific region with a total of 69.6 bcm. The main recipient of Qatari LNG was South Korea with 15.9 bcm while Japan imported 13.8 bcm.
Qatar also sold 23.7 bcm of LNG to Europe.
According to BP's report, last year's second biggest LNG exporter was Australia with 75.9 bcm. Indonesia followed with 21.7 bcm and the U.S. was ranked third with 17.4 bcm.
Australian LNG's only recipient was the Asian region, with China having imported 35 bcm, followed by China (23.7 bcm )and South Korea (9.6 bcm).
The U.S. is expected to increase its LNG export capacity in the coming years, as construction of one LNG terminal takes around four years.
The main LNG step is expected in 2022 from the U.S., and Australia with more active LNG facilities.
-Japan largest importer
The global LNG market's main trader region was Asia-Pacific with Japan leading with its 113.9 bcm of LNG imports.
The country was followed by China, South Korea and India, which imported 52.6 bcm, 51.3 bcm and 25.7 bcm of LNG, respectively.
In Europe, the main LNG importers were Spain with 16.6 bcm while Turkey purchased 10.9 bcm.
By Murat Temizer
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr