US liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports dropped in the week ending March 15, while the Henry Hub spot price declined as well when compared to the week before, according to the Energy Information Administration.
The EIA said in its weekly natural gas report that 22 LNG carriers departed the US plants between March 9 and March 15, three shipments less when compared to the week before.
Also, the total capacity of LNG vessels carrying these cargoes is 83 Bcf, it said.
Overall natural gas deliveries to US LNG export terminals decreased by 0.8 percent (0.1 Bcf/d) week over week to 13.1 Bcf/d, according to data from S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Natural gas deliveries to terminals in South Louisiana increased by 1.2 percent (0.1 Bcf/d) to 8.7 Bcf/d, while deliveries to Texas terminals decreased by 5.9 percent (0.2 Bcf/d) to 3.2 Bcf/d.
The agency said that natural gas deliveries to terminals along the East Coast were unchanged week over week.
Cheniere’s Sabine Pass plant shipped nine cargoes and its Corpus Christi facility sent four shipments during the week under review.
Sempra’s Cameron LNG and Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass LNG plant each sent three cargoes, the EIA said, citing shipping data by Bloomberg Finance.
The Cove Point LNG facility, the Elba Island terminal, and the Freeport LNG terminals each shipped one cargo during the week under review.
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.
Last 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 $2.44 per MMBtu
This report week, the Henry Hub spot price dropped 6 cents from $2.58 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) last Wednesday to $2.44/MMBtu this Wednesday, the agency said.
Moreover, the price of the April 2023 NYMEX contract decreased 11.2 cents, from $2.551/MMBtu last Wednesday to $2.439/MMBtu two days ago.
The price of the 12-month strip averaging April 2023 through March 2024 futures contracts declined 20.6 cents to $3.179/MMBtu, the EIA said.
TTF climbs
The agency said that international natural gas futures prices increased this report week.
Bloomberg Finance reported that weekly average front-month futures prices for LNG cargoes in East Asia rose 1 cent to a weekly average of $14.22/MMBtu.
Natural gas futures for delivery at the Dutch TTF increased 91 cents to a weekly average of $14.57/MMBtu, the agency said.
In the same week last year (week ending March 16, 2022), the prices were $36.76/MMBtu in East Asia and $37.95/MMBtu at TTF, it said.
