WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) said on Monday that liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity in the United States was expected to reach 8.9 billion cubic feet (about 252 million cubic meters) per day by the end of 2019.

This would make the United States the third largest LNG exporter in the world, right behind Australia and Qatar, said EIA.

EIA said that U.S. LNG export capacity stands at 3.6 billion cubic feet per day for now, and it is expected to reach 4.9 billion cubic feet per day at the end of this year, as two new liquefaction facilities become operational.

The two new liquefaction units, Sabine Pass Train 5 in the State of Louisiana and Corpus Christi LNG Train 1 in the State of Texas, both began LNG production this year ahead of schedule, said EIA.

The EIA also noted that these two facilities were expected to ship their first cargos within the next few weeks.

The United States began exporting LNG from the continental states area in February 2016, according to EIA.

EIA is an agency part of the U.S. Department of Energy. It is responsible for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating energy information in order to facilitate policy making process. EIA covers data on coal, petroleum, natural gas, electric, renewable and nuclear energy.