Sabine Pass, the first LNG-export plant in the US’ Lower 48 states, shipped chilled gas to 11 different countries in its first six months in operation, having dispatched its first cargoes in February.
Cargoes from the first train at Cheniere’s 24 million tonne a year (mta) export terminal at Cameron, Louisiana have travelled to Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, the UK, Spain, Portugal, Jordan, the UAE, India and China.
There was a shipment last month to China, via the Panama Canal by Shell. This is a milestone for US LNG exports, whose early contractors in Asia excluded China. The US has not shipped gas directly to China since the early 1970s.
Sabine Pass shipped cargoes to 11 countries in its first six months of exports (credit: Clipper Data)
Many industry watchers predicted a wave of North American LNG-export projects, along the west coast of Canada, that would tap Chinese demand. Chinese interest in US LNG may increase, following the wave of delays and cancellations to Canada’s proposed export projects and the launch of faster transits via the new, expanded Panama Canal.
The five US export projects under construction – Cheniere’s Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi, Cameron LNG, Cove Point LNG and Freeport LNG – will bring a total of nearly 63 mta to market by the end of the decade.
In addition, there is the smaller Georgia-based Elba Island LNG project, which secured approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in June. It is aiming to export 2.5 mta, all contracted to Shell, from 2018. FERC has received some 18 LNG-export proposals.
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Source: LNG World Shipping
