Natural gas flows to Freeport LNG's export plant in Texas fell close to zero on Sunday as Hurricane Beryl roared towards the Texas coast, with flow volumes expected to remain that way on Monday according to data from financial firm LSEG. One of the most important LNG export plants in the U.S., Freeport is closely watched thanks to a history of swaying global gas prices whenever it shuts down.
"We have safely ramped down production at our liquefaction facility and intend to resume operations once it is safe to do so after this weather event," officials at Freeport LNG told Reuters over the weekend.
With a capacity to handle 2.1-Bcf/d, Freeport is the nation's third-biggest LNG export plant behind Cheniere Energy's (NYSE:LNG) 4.5-Bcf/d Sabine Pass in Louisiana and 2.4-Bcf/d Corpus Christi in Texas. Freeport has three liquefaction trains capable of turning about 0.7 Bcf/d of gas into LNG. LSEG data showed that feedgas to the facility averaged around 1.7 Bcf/d from June 30 to July 6.
Natural gas prices have, however, remained little changed on Monday's trading with other LNG export plants located near where Beryl made landfall expected to pull in gas on Monday coupled with news that Beryl has passed Corpus Christi with minimal impact. Sabine is expected to receive 4.3 Bcf/d of feedgas on Monday, Corpus Christi at and Cameron LNG in Louisiana are expected to receive 2.3 Bcf/d and 1.8 Bcf/d, respectively.
Hurricane Beryl has largely spared Corpus Christi, defying predictions of serious damage. An overview provided by municipal officials showed that as of 7 a.m. Monday, the storm had few to no impacts in the city--including areas well-known for major flooding, such as North Beach and Laguna Shores.
By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com
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Alex Kimani is a veteran finance writer, investor, engineer and researcher for Safehaven.com. More