US LNG exports falter
Fewer cargoes of LNG departed US export terminals between October 7 and 13 than in the prior week, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported October 14.
Sixteen vessels laden with LNG left for foreign shores in the seven days carrying a combined 58bn ft3 of natural gas in super-cooled liquid form. That is a sharp decline from the 74bn ft3 of LNG exports during the week ending October 6.
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For the current week, six vessels left from the Sabine Pass terminal and three left from Cameron, both in Louisiana. From Texas, four vessels departed from Freeport and three left from Corpus Christi. No exports left from either the Cove Point terminal off Maryland or the Elba Island facility off the coast of Georgia. Cove Point was down for regular maintenance, but reopened October 12.
The EIA estimated that LNG exports in September were about 4% lower than the previous month, though the average pace of 9.3bn ft3/d was the highest for September since EIA record-keeping began in 2016.
“Even though September exports were a record for the month, they were limited by weather conditions, which led to the suspension of piloting services for several days at Sabine Pass, Cameron, and Corpus Christi,” the EIA said in its latest monthly market report.
EIA estimates that October exports of LNG will average 9.1bn ft3/d and reach 10.7bn ft3/d on average over the winter period. The increase is expected from “several new LNG export trains – the sixth train at Sabine Pass LNG and the first trains at the new LNG export facility Calcasieu Pass LNG” coming into service this winter.
For piped deliveries, 5bn ft3/d of natural gas came in from Canada during the week ending October 13, a 3.8% decline from the previous week. Exports to Mexico, meanwhile, increased, from 5.6bn ft3/d on average to 5.7bn ft3/d for the current week.