U.S. LNG exports up, average prices down in September

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from the U.S. facilities increased in September, DoE’s latest report shows.

The U.S. Department of Energy noted that a total of 45 cargoes of the chilled fuel departed the country’s export plants. This was nine cargoes up on the previous month.

Out of the 45 September cargoes, Cheniere’s Sabine Pass and Corpus Christ facilities exported 18 and 11 cargoes, respectively. Freeport LNG plant added 10 cargoes, Cove Point shipped five with Elba Island facility shipping a single cargo.

In terms of volume, September exports reached 151 Billion cubic feet (Bcf), 37.1 per cent up on August volumes.

However, compared to September 2019, U.S. LNG plants exported five cargoes less, with volumes slipping 6.5 per cent.

South Korea was the top destination for U.S. LNG volumes receiving 32.1 Bcf, followed by Spain with 15.2 Bcf. China imported 11.2 Bcf of U.S. LNG with India importing 10.5 Bcf. Pakistan entered the top five importers of U.S. LNG volumes with 9.9 Bcf.

The five countries represented 52.3 per cent of total U.S. LNG exports in September 2020.

The Department of Energy added that the average price of exported LNG dipped for the first time in five months, reaching $5.35 per mmBtu.

Since the United States started exporting domestically-produced LNG in February 2016, a total of 1,650 cargoes reached destinations in 35 countries. The total volume exported stood at over 5.37 Tcf at the end of September.

Additionally, 526 cargoes on ISO containers departed the United States during the same period adding a further 1.5 billion cubic feet of LNG also bumping the number of destinations to 38.

South Korea remains the top importer of U.S. LNG with 252 cargoes received totaling 875.9 Bcf. This corresponds to 16.3 per cent of total U.S. LNG exports.