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Qatar LNG Exports Shrink From Record as Australia, U.S. Expand

Qatari Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carrier "Duhail" passes through the Suez Canal near the Egyptian port city of Ismailia.

Qatari Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carrier "Duhail" passes through the Suez Canal near the Egyptian port city of Ismailia.

Photographer: AFP via Getty Images
Anna Shiryaevskaya

Qatar, the world’s biggest producer of liquefied natural gas, cut exports of the fuel for the first time since at least 2006 as Australia and the U.S. prepare to erode the Middle Eastern nation’s dominant position.

Qatari volumes dropped 2.1 percent from a year earlier in 2014 after at least eight years of gains, the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers said in its annual report to be published Wednesday. The nation’s share of global LNG imports shrank to 31.9 percent from a peak of 32.9 percent in 2013, according to the data from the Paris-based lobby group known as GIIGNL.