Creole Trail Pipeline compressor work to impact 1 Bcf/d of gas capacity in June

Houston — About 1 Bcf/d of natural gas capacity on a pipeline that feeds Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass LNG export terminal in Louisiana will be unavailable for three days next month due to planned maintenance, according to a notice to shippers.

The work, which is scheduled to begin on June 19 and end on June 22, involves electrical upgrades at Creole Trail Pipeline's Gillis Compressor Station. About 510 MMcf/d of the pipeline's 1.5 Bcf/d capacity -- receipts only from DTE Energy's Louisiana Energy Access Project, or LEAP, that moves Haynesville supplies to the Gillis hub -- will be available during the week, the May 14 notice said.

Separate maintenance at the same compressor station is scheduled from June 7-11, though that will impact a much smaller amount of capacity -- about 300 MMcf/d. Gillis compressor maintenance is also scheduled for August.

Buoyed by Chinese demand and strong global prices, utilization at US liquefaction facilities has persisted at seasonally high levels, even with the occasional pipeline and terminal work. Based on feedgas demand, implied utilization is averaging about 94% so far in May, S&P Global Platts Analytics data show.

That trend continued May 17, with US feedgas demand totaling 11.1 Bcf/d, up about 900 MMcf/d from the day before, but down about 200 MMcf/d from a week earlier, Platts Analytics data show.

Some liquefaction facilities may be deferring their own maintenance or reducing the amount of work to take advantage of the strong near-term market fundamentals. Sempra Energy's Cameron LNG appeared to be operating at near capacity May 17, after one of its trains was down for maintenance last week.

With European storages recently drawing down hard on sparse LNG deliveries combined with concurrent cold weather, Platts Analytics expects LNG demand will be much more supported this summer compared with 2020, as storage stocks are replenished. This will result in near full contracted US export utilizations with low risk of significant cargo cancellations.

Cheniere, the biggest US LNG exporter, did not receive any cargo cancellations during the first quarter that ended March 31.

Creole Trail runs east approximately 16 miles from Sabine Pass to Johnson Bayou, and then northeast for an additional 78 miles. It interconnects with Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line, Texas Eastern Gas Transmission, Trunkline and NGPL.