Average gas flows to the nine big U.S. LNG export plants eased to 17.2 bcfd so far in July due in part to maintenance at Freeport LNG's export plant in Texas, down from 17.4 bcfd in June and the monthly record high of 18.8 bcfd in April.
The U.S. became the world's biggest LNG exporter in 2023, surpassing Australia and Qatar, as surging global prices fed demand for more low-cost U.S. gas.
Global gas prices have spiked in recent years primarily due to supply disruptions linked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran this year.
Around the world, gas was trading near a 42-month high of around $21 per mmBtu at the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) TRNLTTFMc1 benchmark in Europe and a four-month high of about $22 at the Japan-Korea Marker (JKM) JKMc1 benchmark in Asia. <NG/EU>
In the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm Bertha would continue moving west across the Gulf Coast on Thursday from Louisiana toward Texas, crossing several Gulf Coast LNG export plants.
Energy analysts noted the storm would likely reduce gas demand by bringing cooler, rainy weather, knocking out power to homes and businesses, and possibly causing some LNG export plants to reduce output.
So far, however, there have been few power outages — just about 12,000 customers are currently out in Texas — and no major changes in feedgas flows to LNG export plants.
The analysts noted that tropical storms could disrupt gas flows on pipelines but usually do not reduce output by much, since most U.S. gas production is located far inland in the Marcellus/Utica shale in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia and the Permian basin in West Texas and New Mexico.
Only about 2% of total U.S. gas output comes from the federal offshore Gulf of Mexico.
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