The United States exports less LNG, and Asia attracts more
In October, US LNG exports declined, and LNG carriers began heading to Asia in larger percentages. Here's what it means for Europe
In October, exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States decreased compared to the previous month's volumes, and moved in greater percentages to Asia.
The data from Refinitiv say so, and the European institutions should study them well. The Old Continent is in fact relying heavily on American supplies to compensate for the scarce flows of fuel from Russia. However, if the United States fails to guarantee abundant quantities of LNG, or if their LNG carriers start heading en masse to Asia because they are attracted by the highest prices, then Europe's energy crisis could worsen when the winter cold arrives. .
THE HEAT IN EUROPE, AND THE PROBLEMS IN ASIA
The extraordinarily hot autumn so far, combined with the near-fullness of storage (filled to about 95 per cent of their capacity, on average), were the two main factors in the significant drop in European gas prices compared to the peaks of late summer.
In Asia, however, the interruption of supplies by the Malaysian oil company Petronas – the loss of a pipeline that sent gas to a liquefaction plant forced the company to declare force majeure – has sent Japan on alert, which has had to look for alternative sellers. Japan is the second largest buyer of LNG in the world, and Malaysia was its second largest supplier in 2021.
THE NUMBERS OF THE AMERICAN LNG EXPORT IN OCTOBER
In October, eighty-eight tankers containing a total of 6.2 million tons of LNG left the ports of the United States. Most of them went to Europe, but Asia's share rose from 19 percent the previous month to 24 percent.
In September , US LNG exports amounted to 6.3 million tons.
DOES EUROPE HAVE ENOUGH GAS FOR WINTER?
According to consultancy Rystad Energy, Europe has accumulated enough gas to survive the winter, unless it is "very, very cold".
Last week off the bay of Cadiz, Spain, there were a dozen ships loaded with LNG waiting to unload. They are waiting – they cannot do otherwise because the regasification terminals are unable to work more than this – because they predict that European gas prices will soon start to rise again, along with consumption.
THE SITUATION OF PLANTS IN THE UNITED STATES
The United States can no longer export LNG – if European countries are able to receive it – due to plant engineering problems. The Freeport LNG plant in Quintana, Texas, with 2.1 billion cubic feet of daily capacity, has in fact closed since June due to an explosion: it is expected to reopen, but only partially, in November.
It is the second largest export facility in the country, and its shutdown has impacted its customers such as Japanese power company JERA, the world's largest LNG buyer, which is spending more on fuel.
In October, however, the United States' third major export facility, Cove Point LNG in Maryland, returned to service after a period of maintenance: its capacity is 700 million cubic feet per day.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/stati-uniti-esportazioni-gnl-ottobre-2022/ on Fri, 04 Nov 2022 06:06:36 +0000.