US liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports increased in the week ending December 21 while the Henry Hub spot price fell when compared to the last week, according to the Energy Information Administration.
EIA said in its weekly natural gas report that 26 LNG carriers departed the US plants between December 15 and December 21, three more vessels compared to the week before.
According to the agency, the total capacity of LNG vessels carrying these cargoes is 98 Bcf.
Overall natural gas deliveries to US LNG export terminals increased by 0.4 Bcf/d week over week to average 12.7 Bcf/d this report week, according to data from PointLogic.
Cheniere’s Sabine Pass plant shipped ten cargoes and its Corpus Christi facility sent five shipments.
Sempra’s Cameron LNG sent five shipments as well while Venture Global LNG’s Calcasieu Pass terminal dispatched three cargoes and Cove Point LNG two cargoes, EIA said, citing shipping data by Bloomberg Finance.
Elba Island LNG also dispatched one cargo during the week under review while Freeport LNG remains shut following an incident at the facility that took place on June 8.
The operator of the LNG terminal is still working to restart operations at its 15 mtpa LNG export plant in Texas and expects to bring back online the facility by the end of this month.
According to Gulf South Pipeline, natural gas deliveries to Freeport LNG have averaged about 20 million cubic feet per day since December 20.
Henry Hub drops to $6.14/MMBtu
This report week, the Henry Hub spot price fell 46 cents from $6.60 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) last Wednesday to $6.14/MMBtu this Wednesday, the agency said.
Moreover, the price of the January 2023 NYMEX contract decreased $1.098 from $6.430/MMBtu last Wednesday to $5.332/MMBtu this Wednesday.
The price of the 12-month strip averaging January 2023 through December 2023 futures contracts declined 61.8 cents to $4.872/MMBtu, EIA said.
TTF down
The agency said that international natural gas futures prices were mixed this report week.
Bloomberg Finance reported that weekly average front-month futures prices for LNG cargoes in East Asia increased 96 cents to a weekly average of $34.42/MMBtu.
Natural gas futures for delivery at the Dutch TTF decreased $7.47 to a weekly average of $34.99/MMBtu, the agency said.
On Thursday, the TTF price for January settled at $28.632/MMBtu while JKM for February settled at $31.635/MMBtu.
