US liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports reached 20 shipments in the week ending July 17, and pipeline deliveries to US terminals decreased compared to the week before, according to the Energy Information Administration.
The agency said in its weekly report, citing shipping data provided by Bloomberg Finance, the total capacity of these 20 LNG vessels is 75 Bcf.
This compares to 23 shipments and 85 Bcf in the week ending July 10.
Based on EIA’s previous weekly reports, this is also the lowest number of weekly shipments since January this year.
Natural gas deliveries to US terminals
Average natural gas deliveries to US LNG export terminals decreased 0.8 Bcf/d from last week to 11.1 Bcf/d, according to data from S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Natural gas deliveries to terminals in South Louisiana increased by 1.3 percent (0.1 Bcf/d) to 7.8 Bcf/d, while natural gas deliveries to terminals in South Texas decreased 27.9 percent (0.9 Bcf/d) to 2.2 Bcf/d.
Also, natural gas deliveries to terminals outside the Gulf Coast decreased slightly (less than 0.1 Bcf/d) to 1.1 Bcf/d, the agency said.
The agency said that Freeport LNG, south of Houston, resumed operations this week by restarting the first train.
Feedgas deliveries to the facility have averaged under 0.2 Bcf/d since July 16, according to Gulf South Pipeline Company.
The facility had been offline since July 7, a day before Hurricane Beryl made landfall 40 miles southwest of the terminal.
Freeport LNG, the operator of the three-train 15 mtpa liquefaction plant in Texas, told LNG Prime on July 15 it expects to restart the first train this week after the terminal’s fin fan air coolers were damaged during Hurricane Beryl.
Freeport LNG plans to restart the remaining two trains “shortly thereafter”.
Moreover, the LNG terminal operator said production levels after restart would be at “reduced rates for a period of time” as Freeport LNG continues repairs while operating the facility.
During the week under review, Cheniere’s Sabine Pass plant shipped seven cargoes and the company’s Corpus Christi facility sent four shipments.
Sempra Infrastructure’s Cameron LNG terminal and Venture Global LNG’s Calcasieu Pass facility each shipped three cargoes.
Also, the Cove Point terminal sent two cargoes and the Elba Island facility sent one cargo during the week under review.
Henry Hub down
This report week, the Henry Hub spot price fell 39 cents from $2.37 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) last Wednesday to $1.98/MMBtu this Wednesday.
The last time the Henry Hub price was below $2.00/MMBtu in July was in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the EIA.
The agency said the price of the August 2024 NYMEX contract decreased 29.4 cents, from $2.329/MMBtu last Wednesday to $2.035/MMBtu this Wednesday.
The price of the 12-month strip averaging August 2024 through July 2025 futures contracts declined 17.5 cents to $2.827/MMBtu.
TTF averaged $10.16/MMBtu
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 decreased 12 cents to a weekly average of $12.28/MMBtu.
Natural gas futures for delivery at the Dutch TTF increased 4 cents to a weekly average of $10.16/MMBtu.
In the same week last year (week ending July 19, 2023), the prices were $11.22/MMBtu in East Asia and $8.67/MMBtu at TTF, the agency said.