OREANDA-NEWS. February 10, 2017. LNG import terminals serving the US east coast were scheduled to flow a combined 1.09 Bcf (31mn m?) of gas into interstate pipelines today, the highest amount since 9 January as cold weather gripped New England and the mid-Atlantic.

Prolific shale gas production has significantly reduced demand for US LNG imports in recent years, but terminals serving the east coast can flow notable volumes during winter peak demand days because of pipeline deliverability constraints.

Prices for delivery today at Algonquin Citygates, which serves New England, were \\$5.86/mmBtu, up by 75pc from the previous day, as blizzard conditions hit New England. Temperatures are forecast to return to normal on 12 February.

Prices at Transcontinental zone 5 north, which serves portions of the mid-Atlantic, were \\$3.17/mmBtu for delivery today, up by 5pc from the day before. Temperatures in Baltimore, Maryland, were scheduled to dip to below freezing today, after being unseasonably warm several days previously.

Most of today's send-out, 513mn cf, was scheduled to come from Dominion's Cove Point LNG facility near Lusby, Maryland, according to pipeline nominations. It was the highest flow from the facility since 598mn cf on 9 January. Send-out from the 1.8-Bcf/d Cove Point terminal averaged 59mn cf/d in January and so far in February it has averaged 79mn cf/d.

The 1.2-Bcf/d Canaport terminal in eastern Canada was scheduled to send about 467mn cf today into the US section of the Maritimes & Northeast pipeline, its highest volume since 705mn cf on 15 December. The facility averaged flows to the US of 73mn cf/d in January and so this month it has averaged 179mn cf/d.

The Everett terminal outside Boston, Massachusetts, is usually the nation's busiest LNG import terminal, but it sends most of its gas to the nearby Mystic gas-fired power plant via an intrastate pipeline. That makes it unclear how much gas the terminal is flowing on a real-time basis, as US regulators only require that nominations on interstate pipelines be publicly posted.

Everett was scheduled to send a combined 79mn cf into the Algonquin and Tennessee Gas pipelines (TGP), its highest combined flow to those interstate pipelines since 142mn cf on 9 January. Everett averaged combined send-out of 45mn cf/d in January to Algonquin and TGP, and 40mn cf/d so far this month.

Everett likely will soon receive a cargo, as the BW GDF Suez Boston LNG vessel was anchored today off Boston Harbor. The ship, which is carrying LNG from Trinidad and Tobago, has storage capacity of 138,000m?, equivalent to 2.8 Bcf of gas.

The Elba Island terminal near Savannah, Georgia, was scheduled to flow 30mn cf today into the regional grid, its highest send-out since 96mn cf on 31 January. Elba Island's flow averaged 68mn cf/d in January, and so far in February it has averaged 12mn cf/d.