US LNG exports rose in the week ending March 23, while the Henry Hub spot price also increased when compared to the week before, according to the Energy Information Administration.
The US has exported 23 LNG shipments between March 17 and March 23, up by one shipment when compared to the week before, the agency said in its weekly natural gas report.
Natural gas deliveries to LNG export facilities averaged 12.9 Bcf/d, the same as last week.
All seven large US terminals exported the 23 cargoes during the week under review.
The total capacity of LNG vessels carrying these cargoes is 85 Bcf.
Cheniere’s Sabine Pass plant dispatched eight cargoes while its Corpus Christi plant sent four shipments.
The Freeport and Cameron terminals each sent four shipments as well.
In addition, Calcasieu Pass, Cove Point, and Elba Island each dispatched one cargo.
Henry Hub surges to $5.26/MMBtu
This report week, the Henry Hub spot price surged from $4.67/MMBtu last Wednesday to $5.26/MMBtu this Wednesday.
The Henry Hub price is now at a premium to all major North American natural gas markets except PG&E in Northern California, the agency said.
Feedgas deliveries to LNG export terminals along the Gulf Coast were almost flat at 11.7 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) this report week.
Deliveries of feedgas to terminals in South Texas decreased by 3 percent to 4.Bcf/d and those to South Louisiana increased by 1 percent to 7.8 Bcf/d.
Feedgas deliveries to Freeport LNG in Texas were reduced to minimal levels on Tuesday as a result of the feedgas not meeting specifications for “heating value after CO2 removal.”
In Notice ID 5030161, Boardwalk Pipelines, operator of the Gulf South Pipeline that serves the terminal, requested that all nominations be taken down as low as possible. As of Wednesday, feedgas deliveries had returned to over 1 Bcf/d, EIA said.
Spot LNG, TTF down
According to the agency, international natural gas prices declined this report week but “have remained elevated since the start of Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine on February 24, which has increased uncertainty in European natural gas markets.”
Bloomberg Finance reported that swap prices for LNG cargoes in East Asia for the balance of March fell $3.07/MMBtu to a weekly average of $35.55/MMBtu.
At the Dutch TTF, the day-ahead prices fell $4.66 to a weekly average of $32.82/MMBtu.
In the same week last year (week ending March 24, 2021), prices in East Asia and at TTF were $6.63/MMBtu and $6.35/MMBtu, respectively, the agency said.