Updated Aug 22, 2024
8/22/24
While U.S. LNG supply is poised to skyrocket by the end of the decade, little new export capacity will come online this year, and additional volumes are expected to climb slowly through next year and into 2026 as projects work through various setbacks.
NO. 1: Cheniere Energy Inc. expects to produce first LNG at its Corpus Christi LNG (CCL) expansion project in South Texas by the end of this year. The company also is planning to introduce natural gas to Train 1 in two months, management said Thursday.
Natural gas futures closed near flat after gyrating on both sides of even Friday as a foot race between hot summer demand and rising production continued to play out in setting market balances.
Optimism around the restart of the Freeport LNG terminal had natural gas markets moving higher in choppy trade through midday Tuesday.
More natural gas is flowing to a key export terminal along the Texas coast following the in-service earlier this month of WhiteWater Midstream LLC’s Agua Dulce-Corpus Christi (ADCC) pipeline.
Freeport LNG Development LP’s export facility on the upper Texas coast was still offline on Wednesday, four days after it was shut down ahead of former Hurricane Beryl as the region continued to grapple with the effects of the storm.
The major ports along the upper Texas coast were set to reopen on Tuesday as cleanup continued in the aftermath of former Hurricane Beryl, but operations at a major LNG export facility remained shuttered.
August natural gas futures were on track for their seventh straight loss through midday trading Wednesday after the latest in-line weekly storage injection was accompanied by a bearish revision to the previous week.
Ahead of what is expected to be a bullish inventory report, August natural gas futures were seesawing on early Thursday on either side of the prior day settlement.
An increasing number of construction-related issues at major LNG projects this year has kept a demand-hungry natural gas market wary of delays, but analysts say price and production forecasts remain mostly intact – so far.