US liquefied natural gas exports rose in the week ending September 20 compared to the week before as the Freeport LNG terminal returned to full operations, according to the Energy Information Administration.
The agency said in its weekly natural gas report that 28 LNG carriers departed the US plants between September 14 and September 20, up by ten cargoes compared to the week before.
Moreover, the total capacity of these LNG vessels is 101 Bcf, the EIA said, citing shipping data provided by Bloomberg Finance.
Average natural gas deliveries to US LNG export terminals rose by 7.5 percent (0.9 Bcf/d) week over week, averaging 13 Bcf/d, according to data from S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Natural gas deliveries to terminals in South Texas rose by 33.9 percent (1 Bcf/d) to 4 Bcf/d.
The agency said that pipeline nominations to the Freeport LNG facility, located south of Houston, fell to a weekly low of 0.3 Bcf/d on September 13 before returning to 1.9 Bcf/d on September 20, similar to levels seen earlier in the month.
Moreover, natural gas deliveries to terminals in South Louisiana were essentially unchanged, while natural gas deliveries to terminals outside the Gulf Coast decreased by 9.1 percent (0.1 Bcf/d) to 0.9 Bcf/d.
The Cove Point LNG facility in Maryland, operated by Berkshire Hathaway’s unit BHE GT&S, has started its annual maintenance on September 20.
Cheniere’s Sabine Pass plant shipped eight cargoes and the company’s Corpus Christi facility sent four shipments during the week under review.
The Freeport LNG terminal shipped five cargoes, while Sempra’s Cameron LNG terminal shipped four cargoes and the Cove Point terminal shipped three cargoes during the week under review.
Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass and the Elba Island LNG terminal each shipped two cargoes.
Henry Hub slightly up
This report week, the Henry Hub spot price rose just 1 cent from $2.76 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) last Wednesday to $2.77/MMBtu this Wednesday, the agency said.
Moreover, the price of the October 2023 NYMEX contract increased 5.3 cents, from $2.680/MMBtu last Wednesday to $2.733/MMBtu this Wednesday.
According to the agency, the price of the 12-month strip averaging October 2023 through September 2024 futures contracts declined 6 cents to $3.180/MMBtu.
TTF climbs
The agency said that international natural gas futures increased this report week.
Bloomberg Finance reported that weekly average front-month futures prices for LNG cargoes in East Asia increased 47 cents to a weekly average of $13.83/MMBtu.
Natural gas futures for delivery at the Dutch TTF increased 31 cents to a weekly average of $11.29/MMBtu.
In the same week last year (week ending September 21, 2022), the prices were $43.97/MMBtu in East Asia and $56.63/MMBtu at TTF, the agency said.