US LNG exports decline from last week
US LNG exports fell 17% in the week ending September 29 from the previous seven days, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on September 30.
Seventeen vessels laden with LNG left US export terminals during the week, carrying a combined 63bn ft3 of super-cooled gas. That compares with 76bn ft3 leaving on 21 laden vessels during the previous week.
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Of the 17 vessels departing US export terminals this week, five left from the Sabine Pass terminal and three left from Cameron, both in Louisiana. From Texas, five departed from Freeport and four left from Corpus Christi. No cargoes left from either the Elba Island facility off Georgia or the Cove Point terminal off Maryland.
The EIA suggested foreign demand scenarios help explain the dip in exports of LNG.
“As a result of strong demand recovery in Asia and increased competition for spot LNG cargos, spot LNG shipments to Europe have decreased year over year, mainly from the United States,” the agency explained.
For the North American market, EIA reported that net imports of piped natural gas from Canada increased week-on-week, from 4.9bn ft3/d on average to 5.5bn ft3/d on average. Despite the weekly variances, however, US imports of Canadian gas are higher than the same period last year. EIA reported an average volume of 3.6bn ft3/d for this point last year.
Exports of piped domestic natural gas to Mexico, meanwhile, decreased marginally from last week, from 5.7bn ft3/d on average to 5.6bn ft3/d. Year-ago levels averaged 6bn ft3/d to Mexico.