US February LNG imports down amid warmer weather

OREANDA-NEWS. April 25, 2016. The US imported five LNG cargoes in February with a combined volume equivalent to 9.6 Bcf (272mn m?) of gas, 21pc less on the year amid milder temperatures during the 2015-16 winter, the US Department of Energy (DOE) reported.

All the imports served the New England market, which still needs notable LNG volumes during winter peak demand days because of regional gas pipeline constraints.

All the cargoes came from Trinidad and Tobago, at a weighted-average landed price of \\$4.83/mmBtu.

February prices at Algonquin Citygates, which serves New England, averaged \\$3.47/mmBtu, 80pc less than the February 2015 average of \\$17.39/mmBtu.

The Everett terminal outside Boston, Massachusetts, typically the nation's business import facility, received four long-term deliveries totaling 8.6 Bcf, at a weighted-average landed price of \\$4.61/mmBtu. The DOE defines long-term contracts as being at least two years in duration.

Everett imported 7.6 Bcf in February 2015.

The Northeast Gateway facility offshore Massachusetts received about 1 Bcf at a landed price of \\$6.70/mmBtu. The volumes came from one spot cargo that Excelerate Energy delivered on its Excelerate storage and regasification vessel. The ship sent about 1.3 Bcf to the New England gas grid in January, for a total of 2.3 Bcf this winter, slightly down from the January-February 2015 total of 2.5 Bcf.