The first tanker in 12 days set sail from Freeport LNG’s Texas export terminal on Tuesday, signaling the resumption of gas processing after an outage this month.
Freeport LNG, one of the largest U.S. liquefied natural gas export facilities, has suffered several outages this year with all processing units recently out of service, pressuring U.S. natural gas prices and adding to prices in Europe.
Tanker BW Pavilion Leeara was partially loaded when it left Freeport LNG’s dock late Tuesday, vessel tracking data from financial firm LSEG showed. It was the first vessel to depart the Quintana, Texas, plant since April 11.
Pipeline gas flows were on track to reach 0.8 billion cubic feet (bcf), up from 0.1 bcf last Friday. Normal flow to the plant is about 2.2 billion to 2.4 billion cubic feet per day.
A Freeport LNG spokesperson declined to comment.
(Reporting by Gary McWilliams)