Cheniere’s Sabine Pass liquefaction terminal in Louisiana, currently the only such a facility to ship U.S. shale gas overseas, has exported three cargoes of the fuel in the week ending May 24, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Three vessels with a total LNG-carrying capacity of 10.2 Bcf departed Sabine Pass from Thursday to Wednesday, compared with four vessels last report week, EIA said in its weekly report issued on Thursday.
One vessel with a capacity of 3.6 Bcf was loading at the liquefaction terminal on Wednesday.
Natural gas pipeline flows to the liquefaction terminal averaged 2.1 Bcf/d for the week ending May 24, as compared to 2.2 Bcf/d in the previous week.
Houston-based Cheniere currently ships the chilled fuel produced at three liquefaction trains. The company is developing up to six trains at its Sabine Pass terminal with each train expected to have a nominal production capacity of approximately 4.5 million tons per annum.
Henry Hub drops
Natural gas spot prices in the United States declined at most locations in the report week with the Henry Hub price falling 5¢ from last Wednesday.
The Henry Hub spot price declined from $3.16/MMBtu last Wednesday to $3.11/MMBtu two days ago, EIA said.
At the Chicago Citygate, prices decreased 2¢ from last Wednesday to $3.03/MMBtu two days ago while prices at PG&E Citygate in Northern California gained 3¢ to $3.38/MMBtu.
Despite a price fall week over week, prices are substantially higher than last year at this time, EIA noted in its report.
Yesterday’s Henry Hub price, for example, was 63% higher than a year ago, when it stood at $1.91/MMBtu.
Last year’s prices were historically low largely because of downward pressure from record high storage stocks following an unusually warm winter, the agency added.