U.S. natgas jumps 8% on talk of higher flows to Freeport LNG

After the Freeport LNG shutdown, talk of higher flows to the West Coast pipeline sparked a rally on Thursday, Aug. 11. Freeport, which is operating at reduced capacity, blamed the incident on a human error. The company has said it hopes to restart the facility in October, and could even receive federal approvals in October. However, traders and analysts dismissed a 44 Bcf build in the EIA’s latest storage report.

The outage at Freeport LNG in Texas has left more gas in the United States than previously forecast, causing gas prices to jump. Even though the plant was scheduled to return to partial service in early October, the outage has left more gas in the United States for utilities to inject into their stockpiles for winter.

The shutdown of Freeport LNG has had a significant impact on natural gas prices in the US and Europe. The plant has sparked a global supply crunch, which has been made worse by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Europe is relying more on US supplies and has cut back its reliance on Moscow, which is reducing supply through the Nord Stream pipeline.

Freeport LNG is a major player in the LNG export business. It is one of seven export terminals in the US. These terminals receive gas via pipeline and liquefy it before loading it onto tankers. These terminals have helped the US compete with other LNG exporters. However, the fire at Freeport LNG may impact future global LNG supplies.

The commodification of natural gas has led to a spike in the price of the commodity. Freeport LNG Development LP, based in Freeport, Texas, is the first US firm to apply for permission to export LNG.

The proposed LNG projects along the Sabine-Neches Waterway would provide 70% of the nation’s LNG import capacity, and 50% of the volume. These projects are expected to supply a significant portion of the nation’s LNG supply by 2021.