US liquefied natural gas exports dropped in the week ending September 13 compared to the week before as the Freeport LNG terminal shipped only one cargo.
The Energy Information Administration said in its weekly natural gas report that 18 LNG carriers departed the US plants between September 7 and September 13, down by eight cargoes compared to the week before.
Moreover, the total capacity of these LNG vessels is 67 Bcf, the EIA said, citing shipping data provided by Bloomberg Finance.
The last time the weekly count of LNG vessel departures from the US fell below 20 was the week ending January 4, 2023, the agency said.
Average natural gas deliveries to US LNG export terminals decreased by 6.7 percent (0.9 Bcf/d) week over week, averaging 12.1 Bcf/d, according to data from S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Natural gas deliveries to terminals in South Louisiana increased by 3.2 percent (0.2 Bcf/d) to 8.1 Bcf/d, while deliveries to terminals in South Texas decreased by 26.5 percent (1.1 Bcf/d) to 3 Bcf/d.
The agency said that nominations on the pipelines that transport natural gas to the Freeport LNG facility located south of Houston, namely the Gulf South Pipeline and Texas Eastern Transmission, were down 86.1 percent (about 1.3 Bcf) and 68.3 percent (about 0.1 Bcf) respectively, from September 7 to September 13.
Natural gas deliveries to terminals outside the Gulf Coast decreased by 2.6 percent (less than 0.1 Bcf/d) to 1 Bcf/d, it said.
Cheniere’s Sabine Pass plant shipped six cargoes and the company’s Corpus Christi facility sent four shipments during the week under review.
Sempra’s Cameron LNG terminal shipped four cargoes, Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass sent three cargoes, and the Freeport LNG terminal sent one cargo.
Also, the Elba Island LNG terminal and the Cove Point facility did not send any shipments during the week under review, according to the agency.
Freeport LNG sent four cargoes in the prior week, while Cove Point and Elba Island also each sent two cargoes.
Henry Hub climbs
This report week, the Henry Hub spot price rose 27 cents from $2.49 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) last Wednesday to $2.76/MMBtu this Wednesday, the agency said.
Moreover, the price of the October 2023 NYMEX contract increased 17 cents, from $2.510/MMBtu last Wednesday to $2.680/MMBtu this Wednesday.
According to the agency, the price of the 12-month strip averaging October 2023 through September 2024 futures contracts rose 3.2 cents to $3.240/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 10 cents to a weekly average of $13.36/MMBtu.
Natural gas futures for delivery at the Dutch TTF increased 23 cents to a weekly average of $10.98/MMBtu.
In the same week last year (week ending September 14, 2022), the prices were $53.19/MMBtu in East Asia and $60.81/MMBtu at TTF, the agency said.