Feed gas nominations to Freeport LNG ticked up and a vessel appeared to be loading early Thursday, according to Kpler vessel-tracking data, after days of significantly reduced flows to the facility.
Nominated feed gas on the Gulf South Pipeline system, the export facility’s primary supply route, was 599 MMcf/d on Wednesday, according to NGI analysis of pipeline data from Wood Mackenzie. Utilization of pipeline capacity jumped to 33% from 11% the day prior.
Flows to the facility have remained lower than average since Sept. 9, when reported feed gas nominations dropped significantly. Flows declined 76% between Sept. 9 and Monday (Sept. 11) to an average of 320 MMcf/d. Flows to the liquefied natural gas terminal averaged 1.38 Bcf/d from Sep. 1-8.
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A vessel chartered by Pavilion Gas Energy Pte. Ltd. on Wednesday was at Freeport’s Berth 1 for loading, before possibly heading to the UK, according to Kpler. Four vessels with declared destinations for Freeport appeared to be queued early Thursday for loading off the Texas coast.
At least three vessels previously expected to land at Freeport shortly after drop in feed gas flows last week canceled their declared destinations and diverted elsewhere, according to Kpler.
Since the drop in nominations almost a week ago, the firm had not commented on whether the facility was impacted by a system fault or if export activities would be affected.
Consultancy Rapidan Energy Group reduced its third quarter utilization estimate for the facility from 95% to 80%, assuming output continued to be impacted to the end of September.
The Freeport facility can produce about 2 Bcf/d of LNG from three trains. An explosion last year curtailed production for around nine months.
Pipeline data showed an almost 150 MMcf/d drop through Gulf South on Sept. 5, which coincided with an emissions event reported to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Rapidan analysts wrote in a recent note that the event also coincided with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the state’s grid operator, issuing elevated conservation warnings as extreme temperatures spiked power demand.
“We believe the reduction reflects tight power market conditions that have either reduced electricity supply to the plant, causing its electrical motors to trip, or led operators to reduce output to decrease stress on the grid,” the Rapidan analysts wrote.Rapidan noted that Freeport is one of the state’s largest power consumers and utilization rates at the facility have typically trended downward during the hottest months of the year. Freeport uses all-electric driven turbines to reduce carbon emissions during liquefaction.
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