Deliveries to U.S. LNG Export Facilities Reach Record High

Natural gas deliveries to U.S. LNG export facilities set a monthly record in July 2019, reports the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Natural gas delivered by pipelines to Mexico and to U.S. LNG export facilities reached 10.9 Bcf/d in July and averaged 10.0 Bcf/d in the first seven months of this year, 30 percent more than in the same period of 2018. The U.S. has been exporting more natural gas than it imports on an annual basis since 2017, and EIA expects that U.S. natural gas exports will continue to increase as new LNG facilities come online.

In the first half of 2019, two new liquefaction trains came online: Cameron LNG Train 1 in Louisiana in May and Corpus Christi LNG Train 2 in Texas in June. Two new LNG export facilities, Elba Island LNG in Georgia and Freeport LNG in Texas, plan to place their first trains in service in the next two months. Current plans are to complete construction and bring the remaining trains at Elba Island, Corpus Christi, and Cameron online in 2020 and 2021.

Earlier this week, Venture Global LNG announced the final investment decision and closing of the project financing for the company's Calcasieu Pass LNG facility and associated TransCameron pipeline in Louisiana. February 2019, and the project is expected to be operational in 2022. Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners provided a $1.3 billion equity investment. The project has 20-year LNG sale and purchase agreements with Shell, BP, Edison S.p.A., Galp, Repsol and PGNiG.  Venture Global LNG is also developing the 20 MTPA Plaquemines LNG project and the 20 MTPA Delta LNG project, both in Louisiana.