US liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports decreased in the week ending April 17 compared to the week before, with the Freeport LNG terminal shipping only one cargo during the period, according to the Energy Information Administration.
The agency said in its weekly report that 21 LNG carriers departed the US plants between April 11 and April 17, one shipment less compared to the week before.
Citing shipping data provided by Bloomberg Finance, the EIA said the total capacity of these LNG vessels is 79 Bcf.
Natural gas deliveries to US terminals dip
Average natural gas deliveries to US LNG export terminals decreased by 13.4 percent (1.7 Bcf/d) week over week, averaging 10.9 Bcf/d, according to data from S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Natural gas deliveries to terminals in South Louisiana decreased by 4.8 percent (0.4 Bcf/d) to 7.9 Bcf/d, while natural gas deliveries to terminals in South Texas decreased 42.8 percent (1.3 Bcf/d) to 1.7 Bcf/d.
The agency said that scheduled volumes of natural gas at the Stratton Ridge delivery location for Freeport LNG on the Gulf South pipeline have been close to 0 Bcf/d since Friday, April 12.
Natural gas deliveries to terminals outside the Gulf Coast were essentially unchanged at 1.3 Bcf/d.
Cheniere’s Sabine Pass plant shipped eight cargoes and the company’s Corpus Christi facility sent four shipments during the week under review.
Sempra Infrastructure’s Cameron LNG terminal shipped four cargoes while Venture Global LNG’s Calcasieu Pass facility and the Cove Point terminal each shipped two cargoes during the period.
Also, the Freeport LNG facility sent one LNG cargo and the Elba Island terminal did not ship cargoes during the week.
Freeport LNG, south of Houston, Texas said last month it will operate with only the third train until “sometime in May” when it expects to bring back online the first and the second train.
According to reports, the third LNG train tripped offline due to an issue with a flow meter on April 9 and came back online on April 10.
LNG Prime invited Freeport LNG to provide an update on the status of the third train. The LNG terminal operator declined to comment.
The EIA is expecting a 2 percent increase in US LNG exports this year compared to record 2023, while LNG exports are expected to rise 18 percent in 2025 due to new LNG terminals coming online.
Henry Hub down
This report week, the Henry Hub spot price fell 38 cents from $1.88 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) last Wednesday to $1.50/MMBtu this Wednesday.
The agency said the price of the May 2024 NYMEX contract decreased 17.3 cents, from $1.885/MMBtu last Wednesday to $1.712/MMBtu this Wednesday.
According to the EIA, the price of the 12-month strip averaging May 2024 through April 2025 futures contracts declined 5.9 cents to $2.769/MMBtu.
TTF averaged $9.73/MMBtu
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 62 cents to a weekly average of $10.19/MMBtu.
Natural gas futures for delivery at the Dutch TTF increased $1.15/MMBtu to a weekly average of $9.73/MMBtu.
In the same week last year (week ending April 19, 2023), the prices were $12.56/MMBtu in East Asia and $13.35/MMBtu at TTF, the agency said.