Sabine Pass LNG feedgas demand drops amid fog across southwest Louisiana

Houston — Feedgas deliveries to the biggest LNG export terminal in the US fell Feb. 9 to the lowest level in almost two weeks as fog caused pilots to suspend service along the channel that serves the facility.

The fog impacting Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass Liquefaction in Louisiana was forecast to last through Feb. 11, according to a notice to shippers.

Prices for spot-delivered cargoes into Northeast Asia, while off their record highs in January, remain strong enough to incentivize near full utilization of US liquefaction facilities. The S&P Global Platts JKM for March was assessed at $7.236/MMBtu on Feb. 9.

LNG demand growth remains robust in China, though temperatures in Northeast Asia have normalized since the cold snap in early January and the latest outlook for the rest of February and March is for the region to experience normal or above normal temperatures. This outlook, coupled with the late Lunar New Year holiday period in mid-February, will weigh on demand, according to Platts Analytics data.

Storage restocking across the region will provide some support to demand into March and April. In South America, where unseasonably dry conditions and weak hydro-generation saw unusually high LNG import demand through December and January, conditions are normalizing and imports are now returning close to the historic range.

Platts Analytics forecasts that moving through March and into the spring, tightness in Northeast Asia should continue to subside and prices are expected to soften.

At Sabine Pass, feedgas deliveries totaled 3.4 Bc/d on Feb. 9, down more than 666 MMcf/d from the day before. The last time feedgas demand at the facility was lower was Jan. 27, at 2.85 Bcf/d, Platts Analytics data showed.

There were two tankers moored at Sabine Pass on Feb. 9, according to cFlow, Platts trade flow software. Two unladen tankers were anchored offshore outside the entrance to the channel that serves the facility.

US LNG feedgas demand totaled 10.56 Bcf/d on Feb. 9, off about 1 Bcf/d from the record set Dec. 13, 2020.