Freeport LNG returned a liquefaction Train to service after a brief spell of maintenance, increasing feed-gas demand at the Quintana Island plant in Texas and guaranteeing cargoes for Asian and European buyers..
The ramp-up of the Train at the three-Train Freeport facility came as spot LNG prices for North Asia jumped to $18.46 per million British thermal units for October from $17.240 per MMBtu last week.
US Gulf Coast LNG last day futures prices also soared on the week with the October US GCL free-on-board (FOB) cargo quoted at $16.900 per MMBtu versus the previous week's $15.199 per MMBtu.
With the Freeport Train back on stream, data showed that feed-gas deliveries to the Texas plant increased to just over 2 billion cubic feet per day.
Analysts note that high demand for US LNG from nations like China, Japan and South Korea as well as Brazil in South America has meant very high utilization rates at all six US liquefaction terminals.
The Freeport operating company, whose Chief Executive is the energy entrepreneur Michael Smith, produces around 15 million tonnes per annum of LNG, the equivalent of 130 million barrels of oil.
The Freeport business is now estimated to be on track to book well over $2.5 billion in revenue in 2021 because of higher prices, including the US benchmark Henry Hub over $4 per million British thermal units.
It has use-or-pay liquefaction tolling agreements for most of the output from the three Trains with customers including European and Japanese contract holders, BP of the UK, Germany’s Uniper and Japan’s Jera Co. Inc. and Osaka Gas.
The Freeport plant, which is the only plant in the US that uses exclusively electric motors instead of natural gas turbines to drive the liquefaction compressors, also has permits to develop a fourth processing Train.
The first three Trains were built by a consortium including McDermott International and Zachry Construction Corp. of the US, along with Chiyoda Corp. of Japan.
Freeport only began commercial operations in May 2020 for its third Train with liquefaction services for French major TotalEnergies and South Korean utility and energy company SK E&S under their tolling agreements.
The original Freeport facility was completed as an import terminal in 2008 with one berth and two storage tanks, each of 160,000 cubic metres capacity.
A second loading berth and 165,000 cubic metres capacity of storage were added.
