U.S. LNG feedgas is climbing again as the maintenance season winds down. Cameron and Freeport appear to be bringing their respective offline trains back online.
Commissioning activity at Golden Pass and Corpus Christi Stage III continues to progress and U.S. LNG feedgas demand averaged 17.8 Bcf/d last week, up about 0.4 Bcf/d week-on-week.
U.S. LNG feedgas remains below recent peak levels as maintenance continues to curb demand with one train offline at both Cameron and Freeport LNG.
U.S. LNG feedgas averaged about 17.4 Bcf/d last week, flat week-on-week, but flows should begin to climb at the end of this week as maintenance wraps up. Cameron appears to be nearing the end of its outage and Freeport will likely follow the week after.
Commonwealth LNG has reached a final investment decision (FID) on its 9.5 MMtpa export terminal (1.3 Bcf/d) near Cameron Parish, Louisiana.
U.S. LNG feedgas demand declined sharply again last week, primarily due to maintenance at Cameron and pipeline work affecting Corpus Christi.
U.S. LNG feedgas demand fell sharply last week with lower intake at Corpus Christi, Cameron, and Calcasieu Pass driving the decline.
Feedgas averaged about 18.5 Bcf/d last week, down 0.9 Bcf/d week-on-week as intake at Cameron dropped on April 30 and has remained at around 1.5 Bcf/d since then, consistent with two of the terminal's three trains being online. Maintenance in late spring is typical for Cameron, and the pattern suggests one train is likely offline. Past terminal turnarounds have generally run for around three weeks, so reduced intake could last through much of May. The terminal’s header pipeline, Cameron Interstate Pipeline, is also conducting maintenance and will continue to do so throughout the month.
U.S. LNG feedgas is still operating at peak levels, averaging about 19.4 Bcf/d, down 0.08 Bcf/d from the previous week. The only minor disruptions have been tied to pipeline maintenance and several key pipelines have upcoming work scheduled, which may disrupt feedgas availability later this month and into May.
Commonwealth LNG has largely completed commercialization of its 9.5 MMtpa export terminal (1.3 Bcf/d) and is approaching a final investment decision (FID). It is under development by Caturus (formerly Kimmeridge Energy) near Cameron, LA (see picture below). The project has all the needed regulatory approvals.
Winter peak operations are keeping U.S. LNG feedgas demand elevated, even as week-to-week flows fluctuate.
The U.S. may be in a monthslong pause in approving new LNG exports but that doesn’t change the fact that U.S. LNG export capacity will nearly double over the next four years, that most of the new liquefaction plants are being built along the Texas coast, and that their primary source of natural gas will be the Permian Basin. That helps to explain why three big midstream players — WhiteWater/I Squared, MPLX and Enbridge — recently formed a joint venture (JV) to develop, build, own and operate gas pipeline and storage assets that link the Permian to existing and planned LNG export terminals. In today’s RBN blog, we examine the new JV and discuss the ongoing development of midstream networks for crude oil, natural gas and NGLs.
LNG feedgas demand has averaged a record of about 12 Bcf/d this summer and fall. While that may sound like an impressive number (and it is), it could increase significantly — even without new capacity additions — over the next few months as seasonal demand rises and maintenance activity slows. And that’s just for starters. Next year, the first of several planned LNG export terminals and expansions of existing ones will start commissioning, and by the end of this decade feedgas demand may well double. In today’s RBN blog, we look at how current LNG feedgas demand stacks up compared to past years, the factors driving current demand, and the potential for additional upside.
