Plaquemines LNG Terminal Drives U.S. Exports Higher

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Written by Daniel Graeber for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Data from IIR Energy show the Plaquemines facility in Louisiana, which received its inaugural batch of feed gas only in December, is running well above design capacity so far in July and perhaps testing U.S. limits.

Plaquemines, operated by Venture Global (Arlington, Virginia), has received about 2.75 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in feed gas on average this week, some 150% above its peak design capacity of 1.89 Bcf/d.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Oil & Gas Production Plant Database can learn more about Plaquemines from a detailed plant profile.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing the amount of feed gas received each week dating back to December, based on IIR Energy's data.

Venture Global started sending feed gas to Phase 2 of the facility ahead of schedule, according to a report published on Monday by Reuters, which said an early start for Phase 2 means Venture Global can fetch a higher price on the spot market.

During the first quarter, Venture Global reported that Phase 1 at Plaquemines operated at 140% of its nameplate capacity.

Calcasieu Pass has a nameplate capacity of 1.76 Bcf/d in feed gas. The largest U.S. export terminal is Sabine Pass, operated by Cheniere Energy (Houston, Texas), with a design capacity of 4.56 Bcf/d.

Maria Sanchez, a natural gas products analyst at IIR Energy, wrote in a Monday report that overall feed gas levels are "robust."

"Current LNG deliveries are holding at 16.38 Bcf/d, maintaining strong utilization across terminals," Sanchez wrote. "This level is 1.8 Bcf/d higher than the average for last month and stands 5 Bcf/d above volumes from the same period last year."

Maintenance at LNG terminals curbed exports last month. The amount of feed gas running to the eight functional LNG terminals averaged about 14.1 Bcf/d, a decline from 15.4 Bcf/d in May. Year-ago feed gas levels were closer to 12.4 Bcf/d on average for June.

Venture Global made a final investment decision on Plaquemines in 2022, and federal regulators in November gave the company permission to introduce natural gas into the export plant.

The first-ever cargo from Plaquemines was loaded December 26 onto the Venture Global Bayou, one of the new vessels in Venture Global's fleet that are designed to transport LNG. The cargo was shipped to energy company EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG (Karlsruhe, Germany), and Venture Global now expects to be the largest LNG supplier to the German economy.

The U.S. is the world leader in LNG exports and recently overtook Russia to become the No. 2 supplier to the European economy, behind Norway. A recent report from the London-based International Gas Union (IGU), meanwhile, found Plaquemines helped support a net increase in LNG volumes from the U.S.

Year-over-year U.S. gas production, however, is on pace to decline and the entire sector is facing headwinds. The IGU said supply-chain issues stemming from global trade concerns and uncertainty in the geopolitical arena were making investors nervous. The International Energy Agency, meanwhile, warned that, with new projects coming onstream, there could be a supply overhang that could exist well into the 2030s.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).