US liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports rose in the week ending March 8, while the Henry Hub spot price decreased when compared to the week before, according to the Energy Information Administration.
The EIA said in its weekly natural gas report that 25 LNG carriers departed the US plants between March 2 and March 8, one shipment more when compared to the week before.
Also, the total capacity of LNG vessels carrying these cargoes is 92 Bcf, it said.
Overall natural gas deliveries to US LNG export terminals increased by 4.5 percent (0.6 Bcf/d) week over week to 13.2 Bcf/d, according to data from S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Natural gas deliveries to terminals in South Louisiana increased by 1 percent (0.1 Bcf/d) to 8.6 Bcf/d, while deliveries to South Texas terminals increased by 16.5 percent (0.5 Bcf/d) to 3.4 Bcf/d.
The agency said that natural gas deliveries to terminals along the East Coast were essentially unchanged.
Cheniere’s Sabine Pass plant shipped ten cargoes and its Corpus Christi facility sent four shipments during the week under review.
Sempra’s Cameron LNG shipped four cargoes and Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass LNG plant and the Freeport LNG facility each sent three cargoes, the EIA said, citing shipping data by Bloomberg Finance.
The Cove Point LNG facility also sent one cargo during the week under review, while the Elba Island terminal did not ship any cargoes.
Freeport LNG restart
Freeport LNG is currently restarting the export plant following an incident at the facility that took place on June 8 last year.
The LNG terminal operator secured regulatory approval last month to launch commercial operations of two trains at its 15 mtpa liquefaction plant in Texas as part of the restart process.
This week, Freeport LNG also won regulatory approval to restart operations of Train 1.
This approval does not grant authorization to Freeport LNG to commission or place LNG Tank 3, Loop 2, and Dock 2 back into service.
Henry Hub down to $2.50 per MMBtu
This report week, the Henry Hub spot price dropped 9 cents from $2.59 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) last Wednesday to $2.50/MMBtu this Wednesday, the agency said.
Moreover, the price of the April 2023 NYMEX contract decreased 26 cents, from $2.811/MMBtu last Wednesday to $2.551/MMBtu two days ago.
The price of the 12-month strip averaging April 2023 through March 2024 futures contracts declined 14.2 cents to $3.385/MMBtu, the EIA said.
European and Asian prices dip
The agency said that international natural gas futures prices decreased to their lowest levels since July 2021 this report week.
Bloomberg Finance reported that weekly average front-month futures prices for LNG cargoes in East Asia fell 55 cents to a weekly average of $14.21/MMBtu.
Natural gas futures for delivery at the Dutch TTF decreased $1.44 to a weekly average of $13.66/MMBtu, the agency said.
In the same week last year (week ending March 9, 2022), the prices in East Asia and at TTF were $43.12/MMBtu and $61.08/MMBtu, respectively, it said.