US LNG WEEKLY: Freeport LNG prepares to resume service after lengthy outage

The biggest US liquefaction facility received record high feedgas deliveries during the week ended Oct. 18, while another major export terminal prepared to resume operations after a lengthy outage.

Those developments came as Europe was awash in LNG cargoes, even as FOB and delivered European prices remained depressed.

While market participants were floating cargoes, in hopes of landing better netbacks in winter months, freight economics and tight ship and regas slot availability was making that difficult. Even so, dozens of tankers, many from the US, were in the Atlantic seeking to land in Europe, as the continent prepared for peak demand season.

The Platts Gulf Coast Marker for US FOB cargoes loading 30-60 days forward was assessed at $18.25/MMBtu Oct. 18, up 30 cents/MMBtu since the beginning of the week. GCM was assessed at a record high above $70/MMBtu in late August.

Feedgas deliveries to major US liquefaction terminals averaged around 11.21 Bcf/d for the week ended Oct. 18, up versus 10.74 Bcf/d the previous week, S&P Global Commodity Insights data showed.

While Freeport LNG in Texas and Cove Point Liquefaction in Maryland remained offline, feedgas deliveries to Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass in Louisiana surged, with deliveries hitting a new record of 5.18 Bcf/d on Oct. 18. That was about 43% of all US feedgas demand on Oct. 18.

Meanwhile, the three-train, 2.3 Bcf/d capacity Freeport LNG was progressing toward resumption of service in November. It has been offline since a June 8 explosion and fire. On Oct. 18, an unladen taker, Prism Brilliance, was anchored in the Gulf of Mexico near the inlet to Freeport LNG, according to Platts cFlow, ship and commodity tracking software from S&P Global Commodity Insights. A spokeswoman for the operator of the terminal declined to address specific timing around when production would resume. US regulators said Oct. 18 that Freeport LNG had not yet requested permission to resume service. Small feedgas deliveries to the terminal were observed Oct. 18.

Cove Point Liquefaction in Maryland, which shut down around Oct. 1 for scheduled maintenance, also remained offline. The turnaround at the one-train, 800 MMcf/d-capacity facility, which was to include a comprehensive inspection, was expected to last about four weeks, according to operator Berkshire Hathaway. That timing would put restart around Nov. 1.