Freeport LNG has previously announced that it intends to have all three of its trains online in May, but for the first two days of the month they still appear to be operating only one train. The year so far has been a rocky one for the terminal, which has been operating three, two, one, or zero trains depending on the day. Freeport restarted Train 3 on April 21, but it again went offline on April 24 due to an issue with the main cryogenic heat exchanger, according to filings with Texas state regulators. Train 3 was restarted on Sunday and is now ramping up operations. Flows to the terminal averaged just 0.14 Bcf/d for the week ended April 30 but could potentially rise soon. In addition to restarting Train 3, Trains 1 and 2 are due to finish maintenance soon.
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Maintenance Disrupts U.S. LNG
Dizzy - U.S. LNG Feedgas Volumes Swing Wildly Ahead of Peak Winter Demand
Total U.S. LNG export capacity is around 12 Bcf/d, including the still-commissioning-but-nearly-complete Calcasieu Pass. About 13.5 Bcf/d of U.S. natural gas supplies, or feedgas, is required to produce that much LNG, but feedgas demand has averaged just 10.5 Bcf/d over the past week despite still-soaring global gas prices and an undersupplied global LNG market. Two U.S. terminals are currently offline: Freeport LNG, which has been out of service since an explosion and fire in June, and now Cove Point LNG, which shut for annual maintenance October 1. Beyond those outages, which have taken about 2.75 Bcf/d of demand out of commission, LNG feedgas volumes have been extremely volatile, swinging as much as 2 Bcf/d within a week. Don’t expect this to last, however — with winter approaching, the return of both Freeport and Cove Point on the horizon, and the full startup of Calcasieu Pass in sight, feedgas demand will likely rise to new heights and soon consistently top 13 Bcf/d. In today’s RBN blog we take a closer look at the recent volatility in LNG feedgas and the potential demand coming this winter.
When the Going Gets Tough - The Halting Progress of U.S. LNG Export Capacity Additions
2019 was supposed to be a milestone year for U.S. LNG exports. And to a degree, it has been. Natural gas pipeline deliveries to liquefaction and export terminals have peaked above 6.5 Bcf/d in the past couple of weeks and averaged about 6 Bcf/d for that period, up nearly 2 Bcf/d from where they started this year and more than twice where they stood at this time a year ago. But the growth has come haltingly as under-construction projects have faced a number of setbacks and delays. Moreover, the longer-term, “second-wave” export projects still in the early stages of development and looking to pass “go” are facing challenges of their own, including global oversupply and collapsed margins. Today, we begin a short series providing an update on where U.S. LNG export demand and new projects stand.
