The World's 8 Largest Liquefied Natural Gas Exporters (No. 2 Is a Shocker)

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Natural gas is one of the most important energy sources on Earth, providing more than one-fifth of the planet's energy generation each year, behind only oil and coal. And that share is likely to increase in the years ahead, with plentiful and cheap natural gas resources around the world beginning to offset coal for economic and environmental reasons. On top of that, natural gas is an essential raw material in a variety of industrial and consumer products, making it a doubly important commodity as the world's middle class grows in population.

The catch? Much of the natural gas is located thousands of miles from the markets where it is consumed. For this reason, many of the biggest producers cool it into liquefied natural gas, or LNG. This reduces its volume some 600 times, making it possible to ship it around the world. Eight countries dominate LNG exports, making up well over 80% of the market. Several of them may surprise you -- particularly No. 2, a country rarely considered an energy powerhouse. Here they are, listed in descending order of export volume.

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Source: Fool.com