The US exported five more LNG cargoes in the week ending September 22 when compared to the previous week, while the Henry Hub spot gas price dropped.
The Energy Information Administration said in its weekly natural gas report that the US exported 21 LNG shipments between September 16 and September 22.
This compares to 16 LNG cargoes during the prior week.
Also, natural gas deliveries to US LNG export facilities averaged 9.8 Bcf/d, or 0.62 Bcf/d lower than last week.
Six US terminals exported the 21 cargoes during the week under review. The total capacity of LNG vessels carrying these cargoes is 75 Bcf, compared to 56 Bcf in the week before.
Moreover, Cheniere’s Sabine Pass plant dispatched nine cargoes, while its Corpus Christi plant sent five cargoes.
Cameron dispatched four cargoes, the Cove Point facility and Elba Island sent one cargo, each.
The Freeport LNG terminal, which usually ships three or four vessels per week, also sent one cargo, EIA said. The facility closed on September 14 due to Tropical Storm Nicholas. IHS Markit reported that feed gas volumes to Freeport resumed on September 18 at about 2/3 of normal volumes, and rebounded to full capacity from September 21 onwards.
Henry Hub down
This report week, the Henry Hub spot price dropped from $5.60/MMBtu last Wednesday to $4.83/MMBtu two days ago.
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) reported more production from the offshore Gulf of Mexico returning.
The BSEE estimates impaired offshore natural gas production due to Hurricane Ida was at 540 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) this Wednesday, down 340 MMcf/d from 880 MMcf/d last Wednesday. Demand in the Gulf Coast region has also declined week over week.
Natural gas deliveries of feed gas to LNG terminals dropped week over week by an average 110 MMcf/d in Texas and a further 240 MMcf/d in Southern Louisiana, EIA said.
BHE GT&S, operator of the Cove Point LNG export terminal, announced that maintenance at the facility would start September 20.
The firm reported only 2 MMcf/d of scheduled volumes of natural gas for delivery to Cove Point starting on September 20, down from a steady flow of 756 MMcf/d of feedgas before the shutdown.
Spot LNG price, TTF continue to rise
Prices are continuing to rise all over the globe. Bloomberg Finance reported that swap prices for October LNG cargoes in East Asia rose to a weekly average of $23.98/MMBtu this report week.
This marked the highest weekly average on record going back to January 2020 and $5.29/MMBtu above last week’s average of $18.69/MMBtu, the agency said.
At the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF), the most liquid European natural gas spot market, prices averaged $19.86/MMBtu this report week.
This is the highest weekly average on record going back to September 2007 and up $1.90/MMBtu from last week’s average of $17.96/MMBtu, EIA said.
In the same week last year (week ending September 23, 2020), prices in East Asia and at TTF were at $4.76/MMBtu and $3.30/MMBtu, respectively, the agency said.