The amount of gas flowing to the seven big operating U.S. liquefied natural gas export plants was on track to rise to a nine-month high on Thursday as feedgas to a few plants hit multi-week highs, according to data from financial firm LSEG.
The energy market cares about feedgas flows to U.S. LNG plants because exports have been the gas industry’s biggest source of demand growth in recent years.
The U.S. became the world’s biggest LNG supplier in 2023, ahead of recent leaders Australia and Qatar, as much higher global prices feed demand for more exports due in part to supply disruptions and sanctions linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
U.S. LNG feedgas was on track to rise from 14.0 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) on Wednesday to a nine-month high of 14.4 bcfd on Thursday.
One billion cubic feet can supply about five million U.S. homes for a day.
That increase in gas flows was due to rising feedgas at several plants.
Flows to Venture Global LNG’s 1.6-bcfd Calcasieu Pass in Louisiana were on track to rise to a four-month high of 1.5 bcfd on Thursday.
Flows to Cameron LNG’s 2.0-bcfd Cameron plant in Louisiana were on track to rise to a four-week high of 2.3 bcfd on Thursday.
Flows to Cheniere Energy’s 4.5-bcfd Sabine Pass in Louisiana were on track to rise to a three-week high of 4.9 bcfd on Thursday. Sabine is the biggest U.S. LNG export plant.
LNG export plants can pull in more gas than they can turn into LNG because they use some of that fuel to run liquefaction and other equipment.
In addition to the operating export plants, the gas market is waiting for two new facilities under construction to enter service in test mode before the end of the year – the first 1.8-bcfd phase of Venture Global’s Plaquemines in Louisiana and the 1.5-bcfd Stage 3 expansion at Cheniere’s Corpus Christi in Texas.
Plaquemines has been pulling in small amounts of pipeline gas in test mode every day since mid September, according to LSEG data. Many analysts expect the plant to start pulling in more gas in coming days or weeks to test the plant’s liquefaction trains, which turn gas into LNG.
(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )