US LNG exports stall in July despite higher LNG prices

The stagnant production came as buyers in both Asia and Europe paid significantly more for LNG. The Asian benchmark Japan Korea Marker averaged $19.10 per million British thermal units in July, maintaining a premium over Europe's Dutch TTF benchmark, which averaged $18.07 per mmBtu, according to LSEG data. In June, TTF averaged $13.19 while JKM averaged $17.33 per mmBtu.

"U.S. projects in the last year or two have been running above nameplate capacity and although they would like to produce more, they are not prepared to defer maintenance and risk having unscheduled maintenance down the road," Jason Feer, head of business intelligence at Poten and Partners, told Reuters on Monday.

Europe remained the largest destination for U.S. cargoes as the continent continued to replenish gas inventories ahead of winter. Shipments to Europe rose to 4.76 MT in July from 4.41 MT in June, accounting for nearly half of all U.S. LNG exports.

Asia retained its position as the second-largest market, taking 3.32 MT of LNG, up slightly from 3.25 MT the previous month. Although the stronger JKM premium typically encourages traders to divert cargoes toward Asia, the limited growth in exports suggests sellers had little uncommitted supply available to respond to the arbitrage opportunity.