US liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports dropped in the week ending January 18 while the Henry Hub spot price also fell when compared to the week before, according to the Energy Information Administration.
The EIA said in its weekly natural gas report that 22 LNG carriers departed the US plants between January 12-18, two shipments less when compared to the week before.
According to the agency, the total capacity of LNG vessels carrying these cargoes is 82 Bcf.
Overall natural gas deliveries to US LNG export terminals were essentially unchanged, increasing by less than 0.1 Bcf/d week over week to average 12.4 Bcf/d this report week, according to data from S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Cheniere’s Sabine Pass plant shipped nine cargoes and its Corpus Christi facility sent five shipments during the week under review.
Sempra’s Cameron LNG and Venture Global LNG’s Calcasieu Pass terminal each dispatched four cargoes, the EIA said, citing shipping data by Bloomberg Finance.
Elba Island LNG and Cove Point did not ship any cargoes during the week under review, according to the agency.
This is the case with Freeport LNG as well as it 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 still expects to bring back online the facility this month despite several recent media reports saying that Freeport LNG may delay the restart to February.
Henry Hub drops to $3.11/MMBtu
This report week, the Henry Hub spot price fell 24 cents from $3.35 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) last Wednesday to $3.11/MMBtu this Wednesday, the agency said.
Moreover, the price of the February 2023 NYMEX contract decreased 36 cents, from $3.671/MMBtu last Wednesday to $3.311/MMBtu this Wednesday.
The price of the 12-month strip averaging February 2023 through January 2024 futures contracts declined 19.4 cents to $3.553/MMBtu, the agency said.
TTF down
The agency said that international natural gas futures prices were down this report week.
Bloomberg Finance reported that weekly average front-month futures prices for LNG cargoes in East Asia decreased $2.82 to a weekly average of $24.85/MMBtu.
Natural gas futures for delivery at the Dutch TTF decreased $1.92 to a weekly average of $20.10/MMBtu.
In the same week last year (week ending January 19, 2022), the prices in East Asia and at TTF were $27.38/MMBtu and $27.24/MMBtu, respectively, the agency said.
