Houston — Supplies to U.S. liquefied natural gas export plants reached near record levels over the weekend as vessels docked for loading at all seven export terminals for the first time, according to Refinitiv.
Venture Global received permission on Friday from federal energy regulators to load LNG on the first commissioning vessel at its Calcasieu Pass export plant in Louisiana. The Yiannis tanker will likely be first vessel to pick up a cargo from the facility, according to data from Refinitiv.
On Saturday, feed gas to the LNG plants reached 13.2 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd), the highest since hitting an all-time high of 13.3 bcfd on Jan. 20 when all six liquefaction trains at Cheniere Energy Inc’s Sabine Pass in Louisiana were operating near full capacity.
This comes as LNG exports to Europe have been at record highs in recent weeks as utilities scramble for cargoes in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, which could cut off gas supplies to the rest of Europe.
The United States is set to become the world’s biggest LNG exporter in 2022, surpassing Qatar and Australia, with exports forecast to reach 11.5 bcfd.
- Reuters (Reporting by Marcy de Luna Editing by Marguerita Choy)
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