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EIA said, citing data from S&P Global Commodity Insights, that average natural gas deliveries to US LNG export terminals were essentially unchanged this week at 16.4 Bcf/d.
Natural gas deliveries to terminals in South Louisiana increased 2.3 percent (0.3 Bcf/d) to 11 Bcf/d, and natural gas deliveries to terminals in South Texas decreased by 5.1 pecent (0.2 Bcf/d) to 4.2 Bcf/d.
EIA noted that Gulf South Pipeline Company declared a force majeure on March 24 for the Stratton Ridge location, which delivers natural gas to the Freeport LNG terminal in Texas, following a suspected lightning strike at the location.
Deliveries of natural gas resumed the next day when Gulf South lifted the force majeure after concluding the facilities had not suffered a lightning strike.
EIA said that natural gas deliveries to terminals outside the Gulf Coast were essentially unchanged at 1.2 Bcf/d this week.
The agency did not provide data for the number of US LNG cargoes for the week under review, as it usually does.
During the week ending March 19, US LNG export terminals shipped 26 LNG cargoes.
This compares to 29 shipments and 110 Bcf in the week ending March 12.
Henry Hub down
EIA said that the Henry Hub spot price decreased 36 cents from $4.22 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) last Wednesday to $3.86/MMBtu this Wednesday.
The price of the April 2025 NYMEX contract decreased 39 cents, from $4.247/MMBtu last Wednesday to $3.861/MMBtu this Wednesday.
EIA said the price of the 12-month strip averaging April 2025 through March 2026 futures contracts fell 35 cents to $4.450/MMBtu.
Top LNG exporter
EIA said in a separate report that the US exported 11.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of LNG in 2024, remaining the world’s largest LNG exporter.
LNG exports from Australia and Qatar—the world’s two next-largest LNG exporters—have remained relatively stable over the last five years (2020–24); their exports have ranged from 10.2 Bcf/d to 10.7 Bcf/d annually, according to data from Cedigaz.
Russia and Malaysia have been the fourth- and fifth-largest LNG exporters globally since 2019. In 2024, LNG exports from Russia averaged 4.4 Bcf/d, and exports from Malaysia averaged 3.7 Bcf/d.
US LNG exports remained essentially flat compared with 2023 mainly because of several unplanned outages at existing LNG export facilities, lower natural gas consumption in Europe, and very limited new LNG export capacity additions since 2022, the agency said.
In December 2024, Plaquemines LNG Phase 1 shipped its first export cargo, becoming the eighth US LNG export facility in service.
“We estimate that utilization of LNG export capacity across the other seven US LNG terminals operating in 2024 averaged 104 percent of nominal capacity and 86 percent of peak capacity, unchanged from the previous year,” EIA said.
While Europe (including Türkiye) remained the primary destination for US LNG exports in 2024, accounting for 53 percent (6.3 Bcf/d) of the total exports, the share of US LNG exports to Asia increased from 26 percent (3.1 Bcf/d) in 2023 to 33 percent (4 Bcf/d) in 2024.
US LNG exports to other regions, including the Middle East, North Africa, and Latin America, also increased last year and accounted for 14 percent (1.6 Bcf/d) of total exports, compared with 8 percent (0.9 Bcf/d) in 2023, EIA said.