EIA: Henry Hub price down, Dec LNG exports hit record high

Natural gas spot prices in the U.S. dropped in most locations in the week ending January 11, with the Henry Hub price slipping 9¢ from last Wednesday, according to the weekly report by the Energy Information Administration.

The Henry Hub spot price dropped from $3.37/MMBtu last Wednesday to $3.28/MMBtu two days ago, EIA said in its report issued on Thursday.

“Prices generally decreased across all regions as the week began with extremely cold polar vortex weather, which peaked on Friday, and then temperatures moderated through yesterday,” the agency said.

At the Chicago Citygate, prices decreased 24¢ from $3.49/MMBtu last Wednesday to $3.25/MMBtu two days ago while prices at PG&E Citygate in Northern California lost 4¢, down from $3.57/MMBtu to $3.53/MMBtu two days ago.

Monthly LNG exports hit record high

Natural gas pipeline flows to the Cheniere’s Sabine Pass liquefaction terminal averaged 1.6 Bcf/d for the report week, 1% higher than flows last week, EIA said.

“Three vessels (combined LNG-carrying capacity of 10.5 Bcf) departed Sabine Pass last week, and one vessel (3.8 Bcf) is currently loading at the terminal.”

The Sabine Pass plant in Louisiana exported twelve LNG cargoes in December, setting a new record for U.S. monthly exports, EIA confirmed last week’s report by Bloomberg.

Previously, Sabine Pass monthly exports were the highest in November, with ten cargoes leaving the facility.

However, EIA said that eight LNG cargoes were shipped in December from Sabine Pass to Asia, not ten as the report said.

Cold winter temperatures and increasing spot LNG prices in the region supported demand for additional LNG imports, the agency noted in the report.

Cheniere started exports from the Sabine Pass liquefaction plant, currently the only such facility to ship U.S. shale gas overseas, in February last year with the majority of cargoes landing in Latin America.

The U.S. is expected to become the world’s third-largest LNG supplier by 2020 with an export capacity of 60 million mt coming from five export terminals.

LNG World News Staff