Exporting

Earlier this week, we reported the exciting news that two shipments of LNG had been loaded and sailed from the Freeport LNG facility, which (until now) has been out of commission since June 2022 due to an explosion and fire (see Another Surprise! 2nd LNG Cargo Departs Freeport Facility). We have new news that a third cargo has loaded and left Freeport–once again using LNG that had been liquefied and stored prior to the shutdown in 2022. We now have word that a fourth LNG tanker is due to arrive at the facility next Monday. It seems the sleeping giant has awakened!
Read More “Gulf Coast’s Sleeping Giant, Freeport LNG, Begins to Wake Up”

Money talks and you-know-what walks. There have been many (perhaps a dozen) proposed LNG export facilities that talk a good game about pulling the trigger on a final investment decision (FID) and moving forward with construction. However, according to Reuters, there are three such projects that are certain, or near certain, to do make an FID this year. Reuters says all three now have all of the customers they need, signed to contracts, so they can go to the bank and get the money they need to begin. Which three?
Read More “3 U.S. LNG Export Projects Ready to Make FIDs in 2023”

Yesterday we reported the surprising news that a load of LNG had left the Freeport facility, even though the facility has not been fully blessed to restart operations (see Surprise! Freeport LNG Exports 1st Cargo Since June 2022 Explosion). As we told you, it appears the load was LNG that had been liquefied and stored before the facility was shut down in June 2022 following an explosion. In an even bigger surprise, it appears another (second) ship left Freeport last night, loaded with LNG, headed for South Korea.
Read More “Another Surprise! 2nd LNG Cargo Departs Freeport Facility”

In a complete and total surprise, S&P Global Commodity Insights is reporting the very first post-explosion cargo of LNG exports has left the Freeport LNG facility along the Texas Gulf Coast and is en route to Port Said (Egypt). The BP-chartered Kmarin Diamond departed Freeport yesterday morning around 7:30 am. But (and here’s the big but)…don’t get your hopes up that this restarts a steady stream of ships departing from the Freeport facility. S&P says Freeport used supplies that were already in its storage tanks when the explosion and fire forced the terminal offline in June 2022. So this load was from LNG that’s been sitting around for eight months. When will more ships load up newly liquefied LNG at the facility?
Read More “Surprise! Freeport LNG Exports 1st Cargo Since June 2022 Explosion”

Tuesday of last week, Freeport LNG, which has been out of operation since an explosion and fire in June 2022, asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permission to begin re-introducing feedgas back into one of three liquefaction “trains” (units) at the facility. A day later, FERC agreed, and small amounts of gas began to flow (see FERC Approves Freeport LNG Request to Reintro Feedgas to 1st Train). Last Wednesday (a day later), Freeport said it was ready to begin loading ships with the LNG it’s producing and asked FERC for permission to do so (see Freeport Asks FERC for Permission to Load LNG onto Waiting Ships). So far (now a week later), FERC has not responded and has not granted permission to load the ships. As of yesterday, Reuters is reporting gas flows to Freeport have stopped.
Read More “Natural Gas Starts, Then Stops Flowing to Freeport LNG Plant”

New analysis from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows the world will bring online the least amount of new LNG exports this year than it has in the past ten years. The world will, if the predicted four new projects come online, add another 1 Bcf/d (billion cubic feet per day) of LNG export capacity, which is piddly. But that’s not even the worst news. The worst news is that NONE of that new capacity will come from the U.S.
Read More “EIA Says Only 1 Bcf of LNG Exports Coming Online in 2023 – All Non-US”

Last Tuesday, Freeport LNG, which has been out of operation since an explosion and fire in June 2022, asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permission to begin re-introducing feedgas back into one of three liquefaction “trains” (units) at the facility. A day later, FERC agreed (see FERC Approves Freeport LNG Request to Reintro Feedgas to 1st Train). On Wednesday, Freeport said it was ready to begin loading ships with the LNG it’s producing and asked FERC for permission to do so.
Read More “Freeport Asks FERC for Permission to Load LNG onto Waiting Ships”

The Grace Emilia is an LNG tanker 975 feet long and 151 feet wide built and commissioned in 2021. According to VesselFinder, the Grace Emilia sails between the port of Dabhol in India and Cove Point in Maryland. India buys roughly half of the LNG produced at Cove Point (built by Dominion Energy, now operated by Berkshire Hathaway), while Japan buys the other half. As the Grace Emilia was transiting through the Suez Canal yesterday, it experienced a malfunction with its rudder. Some reports say the ship ran aground and tugs were used to float it again. Other reports (from the AP) don’t mention the ship running aground. We’re not exactly sure if it did or did not.
Read More “Tanker with Marcellus LNG from Cove Point Breaks Down in Suez Canal”

Last week the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted permission to Freeport LNG, which has been offline since an explosion last June, to begin the process of restarting the facility (see FERC Gives Freeport LNG Green Light to Begin Work on Restart). FERC gave permission for Freeport to cool down some of the piping and reinstate its “boil-off-gas management system.” Freeport has now asked FERC for permission to begin flowing feedgas to the first of three liquefaction trains.
Read More “Freeport LNG Seeks to Take Next Step, Reintro Feedgas to 1st Train”