Cheniere Energy returns Louisiana LNG export plant to full production
HOUSTON, June 30 (Reuters) — Cheniere Energy Inc’s Sabine Pass LNG export facility returned to full production this week after undergoing maintenance, data from Refinitiv showed.
The increased production is expected to help third quarter exports of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) which fell in May to 7.66 million tonnes from a record 8.01 million tonnes in April, as plant maintenance curbed some output.
The Louisiana-based export facility started reducing its natural gas consumption on June 1 when it fell to 3.77 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) from 4.56 bcfd on May 31, according to data provider Refinitiv.
Cheniere was not immediately available for comment.
Sabine Pass began increasing gas consumption last weekend and on Friday was on track to pull in about 4.3 bcfd. That was up about 2.1 bcfd from its recent low on June 22.
U.S. LNG feedgas demand rebounded towards 12.7 bcfd over the last few days as Sabine bounced back, Tudor Pickering Holt analyst Matt Murphy wrote on Friday. Demand could rise to over 14 bcfd through the third quarter of 2023, he predicted. (Reporting by Curtis Williams in Houston and Scott DiSavino in New York; editing by Barbara Lewis)
Related Knowledge Center: Liquefied natural gas
Driven by plentiful natural gas produced from shale plays, the United States began exporting liquefied natural gas in 2016 when the Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana opened and shipped its first cargo. Since then, additional capacity, or trains, have been added to Sabine Pass, and terminals have become operational in Cameron Parish, La.; Hackberry, La.; Cove Point, Md.; and Corpus Christi, Texas. The Energy Information Administration projects that U.S. LNG export capacity will reach 8.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) by the end of 2019, making it the third largest in the world, behind Australia and Qatar. The tariff war with China has the potential to impact some final investment decisions for additional terminals in the coming months.