US liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports dropped in the week ending February 1 while the Henry Hub spot price fell as well when compared to the week before, according to the Energy Information Administration.
The EIA said in its weekly natural gas report that 20 LNG carriers departed the US plants between January 26 and February 1, five shipments less when compared to the week before.
According to the agency, the total capacity of LNG vessels carrying these cargoes is 74 Bcf.
Overall natural gas deliveries to US LNG export terminals increased by 1.2 percent (0.2 Bcf/d) week over week to 12.7 Bcf/d.
Feedgas deliveries to terminals in South Louisiana, rising by 1.2 percent (0.1 Bcf/d) week over week to 9.0 Bcf/d were largely responsible for the increase, while deliveries to all other terminals were essentially flat, according to data from S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Cheniere’s Sabine Pass plant shipped eight cargoes and its Corpus Christi facility sent two shipments during the week under review.
Sempra’s Cameron LNG sent four shipments and Venture Global LNG’s Calcasieu Pass terminal dispatched three cargoes, the EIA said, citing shipping data by Bloomberg Finance.
Cove Point shipped two cargoes and Elba Island one cargo during the week under review, according to the agency.
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 operator of the LNG terminal won approval from the US FERC to start introducing natural gas into the third liquefaction train at its three-train 15 mtpa liquefaction plant as part of the restart process.
Freeport LNG is also seeking approval from FERC to load LNG ships from its Dock 1 LNG berth, according to a filling dated February 1.
Henry Hub drops to $2.66/MMBtu
This report week, the Henry Hub spot price fell 42 cents from $3.08 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) last Wednesday to $2.66/MMBtu this Wednesday, the agency said.
Moreover, the February 2023 NYMEX contract expired Friday at $3.109/MMBtu, up 4 cents from last Wednesday. The March 2023 NYMEX contract price decreased to $2.468/MMBtu, down 45 cents from last Wednesday to this Wednesday, the agency said.
The price of the 12-month strip averaging March 2023 through February 2024 futures contracts declined 25 cents to $3.268/MMBtu, it said.
TTF down
The agency said that international natural gas futures prices were down this report week.
Bloomberg Finance reported that weekly average front-month futures prices for LNG cargoes in East Asia decreased $2.99 to a weekly average of $19.43/MMBtu.
Natural gas futures for delivery at the Dutch TTF decreased $1.64/MMBtu to a weekly average of $18.04/MMBtu.
In the same week last year (week ending February 2, 2022), the prices in East Asia and at TTF were $24.94/MMBtu and $27.80/MMBtu, respectively, the agency said.
