
HOUSTON, U.S. -- Russia's invasion of Ukraine has sent European and Asian buyers rushing to buy American liquefied natural gas, in some cases securing output from new projects still years away from production.
So far in 2022, U.S. producers have signed long-term contracts of 15 years or more for an annual 20 million tons of LNG -- roughly double the full-year tally from 2021. The figure is equivalent to almost a quarter of annual LNG imports by Japan, the world's second-largest buyer of the fuel.