((Automated translation by Reuters, please see disclaimer https://bit.ly/rtrsauto)) by Curtis Williams
Gas demand from America's largest producers of liquefied natural gas soared Friday to near-record levels thanks to cooler weather and fewer outages, according to preliminary data from financial firm LSEG.
LNG export plants are expected to pull 14.6 billion cubic feet on Friday, the highest level of the year and just off the U.S. record of 14.7 billion cubic feet, recorded in December 2023, and in up from 14.5 billion cubic feet recorded Thursday, according to LSEG data.
Demand for natural gas from U.S. LNG export plants is important because it has been the primary source of increased U.S. demand in recent years.
Freeport LNG, the second-largest U.S. exporter of super-chilled gas, is expected to draw just over 2 billion cubic feet on Friday, up from 1.99 billion cubic feet on Thursday, indicating that its three processing plants, called trains, are operational again after four days of shutdown, according to LSEG data.
The plant has experienced several outages this year and is the least reliable of all U.S. LNG export facilities.
The Freeport LNG plant in Quintana, Texas, is one of the most closely watched LNG export plants in the world because the startup and shutdown of its operations often causes massive swings in global natural gas prices .
Both facilities at Cheniere Energy LNG.N , the largest U.S. LNG exporter, have been operating near full capacity, with the Sabine Pass export facility in Louisiana expected to draw nearly 5.2 billion cubic feet on Friday, the third of the last four days in which it pulled more than 5 billion cubic feet, according to LSEG data.
The United States is the world's largest exporter of super-refrigerated gas and two new plants are expected to begin producing LNG in the coming weeks.
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