US LNG Exports Poised To Hit 9-Month High

The seven largest US LNG export plants are receiving high volumes of gas, new data from LSEG revealed on Thursday, with gas flows expected to reach a nine-month high.

The data shows that US LNG feedgas is set to rise from 14 billion cubic feet per day yesterday to 14.4 billion cubic feet per day today.

Cheniere’s Sabine Pass export plant in Louisiana—the largest LNG export plant in the United States—was on track to receive 4.9 bcfd today—a three-week high.

And flows could continue to climb as the new Plaguemines has been pulling gas in test mode for two months now, LSEG data shows. Federal regulators gave Venture Global LNG permission to begin starting up its LNG equipment at Plaquemines in early September.

At the time, Venture said the first phase of the plant would begin exports later this year, with full operations resulting in 10 million tons per annum, making it the second largest single LNG facility in the U.S., behind Sabine Pass.

The share prices of LNG exporters in the United States have seen a jump following Donald Trump’s election victory, with many seeing the industry as one of the main beneficiaries of an upcoming new trade deal between Washington and Brussels.

Trump has spoken about the trade deficit that the U.S. has been running with the European Union for years and wants to change that by imposing tariffs on European imports.

The European Commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, responded to that threat by suggesting the EU could boost the amount of U.S. LNG it buys.

“We still get a whole lot of LNG via Russia, from Russia. And why not replace it with American LNG, which is cheaper, and brings down our energy prices,” Von der Leyen said earlier this month.

Source: Oilprice.com