Page 14 - NorthAmOil Week 37

NorthAmOil PERFORMANCE NorthAmOil

US LNG exports rebound after cargo

cancellations, storm shutdowns

US US LNG exports are reported to be on track to started up at the Freeport, Cameron and Elba
rise for a second consecutive month in Septem- Island terminals, illustrating the fact that current
ber, according to federal data. This comes as the LNG production volumes are still short of what
spate of cargo cancellations that hit US liquefac- the US is now capable of.
tion terminals over the summer slows down, and Indeed, the recovery in LNG production and
one of two export facilities that went offline in exports encountered a significant setback when
late August resumes operations. both Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass terminal
The LNG trade was hit hard by the coronavi- and Sempra Energy’s Cameron LNG facility had
rus (COVID-19) pandemic, prompting numer- to be taken offline ahead of Hurricane Laura
ous buyers to cancel contracted cargoes. US making landfall in the region. Sabine Pass – the
exports of the super-chilled fuel fell each month largest LNG export terminal in the US – was Both Cheniere
between March and July, peaking over the sum- reported last week to have loaded its first cargo
mer as cargo cancellations typically require up since going offline in late August. Energy’s Sabine
to 60 days’ notice. Exports of US LNG fell to However, Cameron LNG remains offline, and
a 21-month low of 3.1bn cubic feet (87.8mn a utility warned last week that transmission lines Pass terminal
cubic metres) per day in July, and proceeded damaged by Hurricane Laura, which resulted in
to rebound to 3.7 bcf (104.8 mcm) in August. power supply to the terminal being cut, would and Sempra
According to federal data, they are expected to take an extended period to repair. The facility is Energy’s Cameron
rise further to 3.8 bcf (107.6 mcm) per day in reported to have deferred cargo loadings sched-
September. uled for September to October. Indeed, consul- LNG facility
Lockdowns related to COVID-19 have been tancy Energy Aspects has warned that the work
gradually easing, allowing demand and prices to required to restore power and clean up the ship had to be taken
pick up in recent weeks. Gas prices in both Asia channel serving Cameron LNG could keep the
and Europe rose by over 60% in August, and terminal offline until mid-October. offline ahead of
while they still remain comparatively depressed, Meanwhile, exports from other terminals Hurricane Laura.
they have helped the LNG trade to recover. that were not affected by the storm are reported
In September so far, the amount of gas flow- to be on the rise, in line with the broader recov-
ing to US LNG export plants has averaged 5.3 ery in volumes. This includes the Corpus Christi
bcf (150 mcm) per day – the highest level since LNG and Freeport LNG plants in Texas, as well
May and a second consecutive monthly increase. as the Elba Island terminal in Georgia.
This level still falls short of the record high feed None of the US’ terminals were affected by
gas flows of 8.7 bcf (246 mcm) per day achieved Hurricane Sally, which made landfall in Ala-
in February. New liquefaction capacity has since bama this week.™

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 37 17•September•2020