US LNG exports rose in the week ending December 8, while the Henry Hub spot price logged a decline when compared to the week before, according to the Energy Information Administration.
The agency said in its weekly natural gas report that the US has exported 26 LNG shipments between December 2 and 8. This compares to 23 LNG cargoes in the week before.
Natural gas deliveries to US LNG export facilities were essentially flat this week at 11.9 Bcf/d, or 0.4 percent lower than last week, the agency said.
Six US terminals exported the 26 cargoes during the week under review. The total capacity of LNG vessels carrying these cargoes is 95 Bcf.
Cheniere’s Sabine Pass plant dispatched seven cargoes, while its Corpus Christi plant sent five shipments. The Freeport LNG terminal sent six shipments while Cameron dispatched five cargoes and Cove Point two. Elba Island also dispatched one shipment.
Henry Hub spot price down this week
This report week, the Henry Hub spot price fell 44 cents from $4.23/MMBtu last Wednesday to $3.79/MMBtu this Wednesday, EIA said.
EIA said the Henry Hub spot price dropped to a weekly low of $3.63/MMBtu on Monday and then increased slightly through Wednesday in response to a near-term rise in demand that resulted from below-normal temperatures stretching across much of the Midwest, south to the Gulf Coast, and east to the Mid-Atlantic region.
Feed gas volumes on the Gulf Coast exceeded 11.0 Bcf/d for the second consecutive week, reflecting rising LNG production at Cheniere’s Sabine Pass LNG export terminal, where the recently completed Train 6 produced its first cargo.
Commissioning activities at Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass LNG export terminal are also beginning to contribute to growing feed gas volume, the agency said.
TransCameron Pipeline, which serves the Calcasieu Pass terminal, reported that volumes on the pipeline have averaged approximately 28 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) this report week, almost 6 MMcf/d above last report week’s average, and set a new daily high of 51 MMcf/d of natural gas delivered to the terminal last Thursday.
LNG prices drop, TTF climbs
International natural gas prices remained near record highs this report week, EIA said.
Bloomberg Finance reported that swap prices for LNG cargoes in East Asia for the rest of December fell $1.41/MMBtu to a weekly average of $35.06/MMBtu, the second-highest weekly average since January 2020 but lower than last week’s average of $36.47/MMBtu.
At the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF), the day-ahead price rose for the fifth week in a row to a weekly average of $31.18/MMBtu, a $0.51/MMBtu increase from last week’s average of $30.67/MMBtu.
In the same week last year (week ending December 9, 2020), prices in East Asia and at TTF were $7.57/MMBtu and $5.10/MMBtu, respectively, EIA said.