Houston—Surging US LNG feedgas demand could be temporarily impacted in the weeks ahead as terminals and pipelines that feed them undergo scheduled maintenance.
Turnarounds are common during the spring. Four trains are approaching the one-year mark of service, putting them in line for maintenance, S&P Global Platts Analytics data show.A compressor station serving Cheniere Energy's Corpus Christi Pipeline, which connects Cheniere's Corpus Christi Liquefaction facility in Texas with several interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines, will be offline for an annual emergency shutdown scheduled for April 8, according to a March 22 notice to customers.
Cameron Interstate Pipeline, which feeds Sempra Energy's Cameron LNG terminal in Louisiana, issued a notice March 23 seeking offers to purchase from it up to 100 MMcf/d of firm gas from March 26-April 14. The point of delivery is an interconnection in Ragley, Louisiana. The sale will be made to purchaser on a firm basis, with the purchaser receiving the volume over the nearly three-week period, the notice says.
Elsewhere, Boardwalk Pipeline Partners' Gulf South Pipeline, which feeds Freeport LNG in Texas, will be performing maintenance on several compressor stations March 30-April 24, according to notices to customers.
US LNG feegas demand hit a new record March 20 of almost 12 Bcf/d, Platts Analytics data show.
Notwithstanding the scheduled maintenance, forward LNG netbacks indicate full dispatch economics out of the US to continue in the months ahead, due to strong market factors such as supportive prices and low shipping costs, Platts Analytics data show.
The Platts JKM for May was assessed higher by 29.7 cents/MMBtu at $6.785/MMBtu on March 23 .
In another bullish sign for the global market, two long-term commercial deals were recently signed tied to shipments to major LNG importer China.
France's Total and Shenergy Group signed binding agreements March 23 for the supply of up to 1.4 million mt/year of LNG from Total, as well as the creation of a joint venture to expand LNG marketing in China. The joint venture will sell LNG, supplied by Total, to customers in Shanghai and throughout the neighboring Yangtze River Delta regions . Also , Total will supply LNG to Shanghai Gas , the natural gas subsidiary of Shenergy Group, for its distribution business , Total said in a statement.
Separately, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, said in a statement that it agreed on March 22 to purchase 2 million mt/year of LNG from Qatar Petroleum for a term of 10 years.
US LNG export project developers have been aggressively courting Chinese counterparties for similar deals. To date, only Cheniere Energy, the biggest US LNG exporter, has a long-term supply contract with a Chinese counterparty.
