Natural gas flows to Freeport LNG’s export plant in Texas were set to rise on Thursday after a power problem during a winter storm forced it to shut on Tuesday, data from LSEG and energy traders showed.
Freeport is one of the most closely watched LNG export plants in the world because the start-up and halting of its operations often cause price swings in global gas markets.
When flows to Freeport drop, gas prices in the U.S. usually decline due to the export plant’s lower demand for the fuel, while prices in Europe usually increase due to a drop in LNG supplies available to global markets from the plant.
That is what happened with global gas prices earlier this week.
Financial firm LSEG said the amount of gas flowing to the eight big U.S. LNG export plants had risen to an average 14.8 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in January, up from 14.4 bcfd in December. That compares with a monthly record high of 14.7 bcfd in December 2023.
On a daily basis, LNG feedgas was on track to rise to 12.7 bcfd on Thursday, up from an 11-week low of 11.6 bcfd on Wednesday after the 2.1-bcfd Freeport shut on Tuesday.
Flows to Freeport were on track to rise to 0.5 bcfd on Thursday, up from near zero on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to LSEG data. Over the prior week, flows to the plant averaged around 1.9 bcfd.
One billion cubic feet of gas is enough to supply about 5 million U.S. homes for a day.
(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)