More gas began flowing to US LNG terminals after maintenance curtailed operations

Natural gas deliveries to terminals exporting it in liquefied form (LNG) in the US began to recover slightly in mid-June after falling to a six-month low in the first half of the month. However, ongoing routine maintenance will continue to limit the country’s maximum possible exports of liquefied gas.

Natural gas deliveries to US LNG export terminals once again exceeded 11 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) on 16 June, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights data. Just two days earlier, they had fallen to as low as 10 Bcf/d. In the coming weeks, however, US export capacity will remain constrained by ongoing maintenance, which is taking place as demand for liquefied gas and its prices on the global market have started to rise again. The recent extension of outages in Norway, which are limiting gas supplies to Europe, has also supported the increase in demand.

The decline in gas flows to export terminals, which were more than a tenth lower in the first half of June than the May average, according to S&P Global data, was mainly due to extensive maintenance at the Sabine Pass terminal. The terminal is currently undergoing a major routine maintenance programme that takes place every six years. The Freeport terminal in Texas also contributed to the sharper decline. It had been shut down from June last year until the first quarter of this year because of a fire, and could not restart until numerous repairs had been completed and local regulators had issued permits.