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((Automated translation by Reuters, please see disclaimer https://bit.ly/rtrsauto))
(Adds Cameron LNG partners in paragraph 6 and other LNG export plants in paragraphs 9-13) by Scott DiSavino
The amount of natural gas flowing to the Cameron LNG export plant in Louisiana fell Tuesday, just a day before Tropical Storm Francine hit the Louisiana coast near Cameron as a hurricane, according to data from financial firm LSEG.
Cameron LNG officials were not immediately available to comment on the reason for the cut.
LSEG said the amount of gas flowing through the pipeline to Cameron fell to 1.3 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) on Tuesday, from about 2.2 bcfd on Monday. That compares with an average of 2.1 bcfd over the past week.
One billion cubic feet of gas is enough to power about five million homes for a day.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecasts Francine to strengthen into a hurricane on Tuesday before hitting the Louisiana coast on Wednesday. Louisiana is home to three of the nation’s seven major LNG export plants, including Cameron.
Cameron LNG’s partners include units of U.S. energy company Sempra Energy SRE.N , Japanese groups Mitsui & Co 8031.T and Mitsubishi 8058.T , French company TotalEnergies TTEF.PA and Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen KK (NYK Line) 9101.T , according to Cameron’s website.
Given that more than 75% of U.S. gas production comes from large inland shale basins such as the Appalachian in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio, and the Permian in West Texas and eastern New Mexico, analysts said hurricanes were more likely to depress gas prices by reducing demand through power outages and knocking out LNG export plants.
That’s different from 20 years ago, when 20 percent of the nation’s gas came from the Gulf of Mexico, which lies off the federal coast. Back then, hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast typically caused gas prices to spike, but today, that offshore region produces only about 2 percent of the nation’s gas.
Besides Cameron, which produces 2.0 Bcf/d, the other major LNG export plants operating in Louisiana are Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass (4.5 Bcf/d) and Venture Global LNG’s Calcasieu Pass (1.6 Bcf/d).
So far Tuesday, Sabine was on track to extract about 4.6 bcfd of feed gas, about the same as Monday, and Calcasieu was on track to extract about 1.4 bcfd of feed gas, also about the same as Monday, according to LSEG data.
LNG plants take in more gas than they can convert into LNG because they use some of that gas to power equipment.
Officials at Cheniere and Venture Global were not immediately available for comment.
In addition to Calcasieu Pass, Venture Global was also testing portions of its new 2.6 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) Plaquemines LNG export plant in Louisiana.
Analysts said they expected Plaquemines to produce its first LNG and export its first test cargo later this year.
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