US LNG exports remained flat in the week ending December 1, while the Henry Hub spot price logged a decline when compared to the week before, according to the Energy Information Administration.
The agency said in its weekly natural gas report that the US has exported 23 LNG shipments between November 25 and December 1.
Natural gas deliveries to US LNG export facilities averaged 12 Bcf/d, or about 0.3 Bcf/d higher than last week. LNG feed gas reached a record high of 12.4 Bcf/d on November 26, it said.
Six US terminals exported the 23 cargoes during the week under review. The total capacity of LNG vessels carrying these cargoes is 84 Bcf.
Cheniere’s Sabine Pass plant dispatched eight cargoes, while its Corpus Christi plant sent four shipments. The Freeport LNG terminal sent five shipments while Cameron dispatched three cargoes and Cove Point two. Elba Island also dispatched one shipment.
Henry Hub spot price down this week
This report week, the Henry Hub spot price fell 14 percent from a weekly high of $4.90/MMBtu last Wednesday to a weekly low of $4.23/MMBtu this Wednesday, EIA said.
The agency said last month the Henry Hub spot price would average $5.53/MMBtu from November through February and then generally decline through 2022, averaging $3.93/MMBtu for the year amid rising US natural gas production and slowing growth in LNG exports.
During the week under review, feed gas demand for LNG export terminals in the Gulf Coast region reached 11.2 Bcf/d, the highest weekly average on record, driven in part by commissioning activity at Sabine Pass Train 6, which began producing its first LNG last week, EIA said.
Deliveries to the Freeport LNG terminal in Texas fell near the end of the report week.
Boardwalk, operator of the Gulf South Pipeline that serves the terminal, reported a decline of about 250 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) compared with regular flows to the terminal from Monday through Wednesday.
Flows are likely to resume to normal levels on Friday, when maintenance at the terminal’s Train 1 is scheduled to be completed, the agency said.
LNG prices and TTF climb
International natural gas prices were at or close to all-time highs this report week, EIA said.
Bloomberg Finance reported that swap prices for LNG cargoes in East Asia for the balance of December remained relatively flat at $36.47/MMBtu this report week, the highest weekly average on record going back to January 2020.
At the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF), the day-ahead price rose for the fourth week in a row to a weekly average of $30.67/MMBtu, up $1.21/MMBtu from last week’s average of $29.46/MMBtu.
In the same week last year (week ending December 2, 2020), prices in East Asia and at TTF were $7.04/MMBtu and $5.19/MMBtu, respectively, EIA said.
