US liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports remained flat in the week ending October 4 compared to the week before, according to the Energy Information Administration.
The agency said in its weekly natural gas report that 21 LNG carriers departed the US plants between September 28 and October 4, the same number of vessels as in the week before.
Moreover, the total capacity of these LNG vessels is 79 Bcf, the EIA said, citing shipping data provided by Bloomberg Finance.
Average natural gas deliveries to US LNG export terminals increased by 5 percent (0.6 Bcf/d) week over week, averaging 12.5 Bcf/d, according to data from S&P Global Commodity Insights
Natural gas deliveries to terminals in South Louisiana increased by 5 percent (0.4 Bcf/d) to 8.2 Bcf/d, while deliveries to terminals in South Texas increased by 5.9 percent (0.2 Bcf/d) to 4 Bcf/d.
The agency said that natural gas deliveries to terminals outside the Gulf Coast were essentially unchanged at 0.3 Bcf/d.
The Cove Point LNG terminal in Maryland continues to be offline because of annual maintenance.
Cheniere’s Sabine Pass plant shipped seven cargoes and the company’s Corpus Christi facility sent four shipments during the week under review.
The Freeport LNG terminal sent four cargoes of LNG, while Sempra Infrastructure’s Cameron LNG terminal sent three LNG cargoes and Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass shipped two cargoes.
Also, the Elba Island LNG terminal shipped one LNG cargo this week.
Freeport LNG, the operator of the three-train 15 mtpa liquefaction plant in Texas, is also working to secure approvals to place back its second jetty in service and to return the export facility to full commercial operations.
Henry Hub climbs
This report week, the Henry Hub spot price rose 20 cents from $2.71 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) last Wednesday to $2.91/MMBtu this Wednesday, the agency said.
Moreover, the October 2023 NYMEX contract expired last Wednesday at $2.764/MMBtu.
According to the agency, the November 2023 NYMEX contract price increased to $2.962/MMBtu, up 6 cents from last Wednesday to this Wednesday.
The price of the 12-month strip averaging November 2023 through October 2024 futures contracts rose 4 cents to $3.260/MMBtu, it said.
TTF drops
The agency said that international natural gas futures were mixed this report week.
Bloomberg Finance reported that weekly average front-month futures prices for LNG cargoes in East Asia increased 20 cents to a weekly average of $14.44/MMBtu.
Natural gas futures for delivery at the Dutch TTF decreased 50 cents to a weekly average of $12.11/MMBtu, the agency said.
In the same week last year (week ending October 5, 2022), the prices were $37.99/MMBtu in East Asia and $51.00/MMBtu at TTF, the EIA said.
The agency noted that stocks of natural gas in storage in the European Union reached 96.3 percent of capacity on Tuesday, compared with 89.7 percent on the same day last year.