LNG

The Everett LNG import terminal near Boston, the longest-operating such facility in the United States, will remain in operation through 2030 after natural gas supply deals were signed with three New England utilities and approved by the authorities to keep the lights on in Massachusetts.

National Grid LNG LLC, a US subsidiary of the UK company National Grid, has petitioned the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to enable it to progress with the Fields Point peak-shaving liquefaction project in Providence, Rhode Island.

The state Attorney General of the northeast US state of Massachusetts has asked the public utilities regulator to investigate if there is a future for the natural gas industry as the state wants to stop burning fossil fuels because of climate change.

US natural gas supply flows to meet the winter season peak demand in New England has been helped by the Northeast Gateway deepwater LNG import facility using floating storage and regasification units in Massachusetts Bay offshore Boston.

The Northeast Gateway is owned and operated by Excelerate Energy, the US specialist in floating LNG import projects.

In addition to the New England facility, Excelerate has established more than a dozen LNG import facilities in nations in South America, the Middle East and Asia.

Excelerate said its Northeast Gateway reached a peak send-out flow rate of more than 800,000 million cubic metres per day of LNG on February 1, 2019, during the recent freezing weather in the region.

The company said this was a first for the terminal and was completed by two of Excelerate’s FSRUs, the “Exemplar” and the “Express”, discharging in parallel through the company’s proprietary offshore buoys.

Excelerate explained that during the coldest days of the year, demand for natural gas from residential customers rises in New England.

Historically, during these times, as natural gas deliverability becomes constrained in natural gas pipelines, power generators have to burn fuels such as oil.

“This year, LNG imports from the Northeast Gateway facility have complimented the system by suppling energy during this peak demand, allowing generators to continue burning natural gas,” stated Excelerate.

At a flow rate of 800,000 million British thermal units per day, this represents approximately the average gas demand of power generators in the region during the recent January-February winter cold periods.

“Excelerate’s Northeast Gateway has helped New England prepare for the winter months by supplying natural gas to meet the increased energy demand of the region,” said Excelerate’s Managing Director Steven Kobos.

“Deliveries of LNG directly into the Algonquin pipeline system helps to bring much-needed market stability and fuel security to the Northeast,” added Kobos.

The Northeast Gateway was first set up and commissioned more than 10 year ago about 20 kilometres offshore Boston.

The terminal consists of a dual submerged turret-loading buoy system which allows for the connection of the FSRUs that have been specifically designed to meet the conditions of the North Atlantic.

FSRUs act, in all aspects, like a land-based terminal and have the onboard capability to vaporize LNG and deliver natural gas directly into the existing subsea HubLine pipeline operated by Enbridge Inc.’s Algonquin Gas Transmission.

Excelerate has established more than a dozen LNG import facilities for FSRUs around the world and the most recent was in the Asian nation of Bangladesh in 2018.

The Moheshkhali Island venture was co-developed by Excelerate, national energy company PetroBangla and the International Finance Corporation, part of World Bank Group.

The deployment of Excelerate's vessel, the “Excellence”, enabled Bangladesh to have the means to import around 3.5 million tonnes per annum of LNG.

US liquefied natural gas exports decreased in the past week to six shipments, four from Sabine Pass in Louisiana, one from Cove Point in Maryland and one from Corpus Christi in Texas, compared with eight the previous week, while two vessels were lifting cargoes at Sabine Pass through January 24.

LNG shipments fell as domestic natural gas demand increased over the holiday weekend and the start of the week, according to a report from the Energy Information Administration.

The average total supply of natural gas declined by 1 percent compared with the previous week and net imports from Canada dropped by 6 percent from last week as pipeline exports to Mexico rose by 1 percent.

“Total US consumption of natural gas rose by 4 percent compared with the previous week,” said the EIA.

“In the residential and commercial sectors, consumption increased by 8 percent as cold temperatures spurred heating demand,” it added.

“Natural gas consumed for power generation was flat, averaging 25.3 billion cubic feet per day,” stated the report.

Spot prices fell at most locations with the Henry Hub dropping from $3.61 per million British thermal units to $3.10 per MMBtu.

“Net withdrawals from working gas totaled 163 Bcf for the week. Working natural gas stocks are 2,370 Bcf, which is 1 percent more than the year-ago level and 11 percent lower than the five-year (2014-2018) average for this week,” said the EIA.

“Prices at the Algonquin Citygate, which serves Boston-area consumers, were volatile amid stretches of cold temperatures. Prices went down $7.85 from $11.38 per MMBtu on January 16 to $3.53/MMBtu,” added the report.

“At the Transcontinental Pipeline Zone 6 trading point for New York City, prices decreased $1.06 from $4.04 per MMBtu to $2.98 per MMBtu,” it said.

The EIA said that shale-gas prices in Appalachia fell as temperatures increased and takeaway capacity was restricted.

The Tennessee Zone 4 Marcellus spot prices decreased 67 cents from $3.43 per MMBtu on January 16 to $2.76 per MMBtu.

“Prices at Dominion South in southwest Pennsylvania fell 70 cents from $3.42 per MMBtu to $2.72 per MMBtu,” said the report.

“A combination of factors likely affected prices in the region. As in New England and New York City, cold temperatures throughout the Northeast over the long weekend receded, reducing heating demand,” it added.

“Prices west of the Rockies also decreased as a winter storm that brought snow to the mountains of Southern California moved out of the area,” according to the EIA.

Prices at the Pacific Gas & Electric Citygate in Northern California fell $1.02 per MMBtu to $3.60 per MMBtu.

Southwest and Texas prices were also lower. At the Waha Hub in West Texas, which is located near Permian Basin production activities, prices averaged $2.29 per MMBtu, $1.32 per MMBtu lower than Henry Hub prices.

US regulators have granted another request from Algonquin Gas Transmission, owned by Enbridge Inc., authorizing the placing into service of part of its Atlantic Bridge pipeline project in the state of Connecticut on its expansion route through the New England states to the Canadian Maritime provinces.

Feb 28 (LNGJ) - A US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission inquiry has revealed no evidence of anti-competitive withholding of natural gas pipeline capacity on the Algonquin Gas Transmission pipeline by New England shippers. The Commission said it would take no further action on the matter. “The inquiry arose out of allegations made by the Environmental Defense Fund in an August 2017 white paper, which asserted that local gas distribution companies in New England had engaged in practices to withhold pipeline capacity on the Algonquin system to drive up gas and/or power prices in the region,” FERC explained. “Commission staff took these allegations very seriously and conducted an extensive review of both publicly available and non-public data. On the basis of that review, staff determined that the study was flawed and led to incorrect conclusions,” it added.