Freeport LNG plant in Texas will remain closed until the power supply stabilises
Freeport LNG, a U.S. company that exports liquefied gas, said Wednesday it had closed its Texas plant on Jan. 21, due to an electrical problem caused by a winter storm. It will remain shut until the power supply is stabilized. CenterPoint Energy officials in the United States were not immediately available to comment. CenterPoint released a statement on Tuesday stating that more than 99.9% customers in the Greater Houston Area still have power and that crews continue to respond to scattered outages.
After holiday weekend, US demand for natgas is expected to reach record levels
The U.S. demand for natural gas is expected to hit a record next week, as the extreme cold that has gripped the U.S. this winter will put pressure on power grids again the day following the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend. This week, gas futures reached two-year highs ahead of the freezing weather. Meanwhile, spot prices in several major hubs around the country have risen to their highest level since January 2024's Martin Luther King holiday weekend. The week before last, gas demand reached its current record high. Next-day prices also soared.
EIA predicts that oil prices will be pressured by oversupply between 2025 and 2026
The U.S. Energy Information Administration's Short-Term Energy Outlook, released on Tuesday, said that oil prices would be pressured in 2025 and in 2026 due to the global production growth exceeding demand. Analysts expect a glut of oil this year after the demand growth in the two largest consumers, the U.S.A. and China, slowed dramatically in 2024. The EIA expects Brent crude prices to drop 8%, to an average of $74 per barrel by 2025. Prices will then continue to decline to $66 per barrel by 2026. The EIA has slightly increased its estimate for the record U.S.
EIA: US power consumption will reach new highs by 2025 and 26.
The Short Term Energy Outlook, published by the Energy Information Administration on Tuesday, predicted that U.S. electricity consumption would reach record levels in 2025 and in 2026. EIA projects that the demand for electricity will increase to 4,175 billions kWh by 2025, and 4,252 trillions kWh by 2026. This is a significant increase from the 4,089 billions kilowatt hours (kWh) recorded in 2024. EIA predicts that by 2025, residential customers will consume 1,519 billion kWh of electricity.
US natgas flow to Freeport LNG Export Plant in Texas reduced – LSEG data
According to data provided by financial firm LSEG, the amount of natural gases flowing to Freeport LNG’s Texas export plant was on course to reach a new one-month record low on Monday. Freeport LNG has one of the highest levels of attention in the world, as the start-up and shutdown of its operation can cause huge price swings on global gas markets. U.S. Gas Futures have turned negative in part due to the reduction in Freeport, after rising about 10% earlier in session to a 2-year high. The price of gas futures in Europe at the Title Transfer Facility benchmark (TTF) was up 4%.
Winter storms in the US could lead to power outages and a reduction of natgas supplies
According to energy analysts, the next few weeks could see massive power outages across the U.S. and a spike in natural gas demand. As a result of the "freeze offs" of oil and gas pipes and wells, the demand for gas is expected to increase. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, gas is responsible for 43% of America's electricity generation and 45% of its homes are heated by it. Prices could rise next week due to a combination of a surge in demand and fewer supplies.
Oil rises by 1% in a 3-week period as sanctions on Russia and Iran increase
The price of oil rose by about 1% on Friday to a record high for three weeks, as a result of expectations that additional sanctions against Russia and Iran would tighten up supplies. Lower interest rates in Europe or the U.S. may also boost the demand for fuel. . U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI), which is a blend of oil from Texas and Louisiana, rose by 79 cents or 1.1% at $70.81. Both crudes were heading for their highest closings since November 22. Brent was on track for a gain of 4% and WTI, a gain of 5%.
EIA says that US power consumption will reach new highs by 2024 and 25.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration stated in its Tuesday Short Term Energy Outlook that the U.S. will reach record levels of power consumption in 2024-2025. EIA projects that the power demand in 2024 will reach 4,086 kilowatt hours and 4,165 kWh. This compares to 4,012 billion in 2023, and a record of 4,067 in 2022. EIA predicts that by 2024, residential customers will purchase 1,494 billion kWh of electricity, commercial customers 1,420 billion and industrial customers 1,026 billion.
EIA: US natgas production will decline in 2024 as demand reaches record levels, EIA reports
The U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Short Term Energy Outlook, released on Tuesday, predicted that U.S. Natural Gas production would decline by 2024 and demand would rise to a new record. EIA predicted that dry gas production would decline from a record 103,8 billion cubic feet per a day in 2023 down to 103.2 bcfd by 2024 due to fewer drilling activities. The producers have reduced drilling following the average monthly Henry Hub spot gas price. In March, the number of people who are employed fell to its lowest level in 32 years. Since then, it has remained low.
Source: Bank sold US oil futures worth $270 million ahead of OPEC+ meeting.
One bank sold large volumes of U.S. Oil Futures Contracts in early afternoon trading Wednesday, according to a source with direct knowledge. This caused prices to drop more than 1% in minutes, and traders scrambled to figure out the reason. The transaction, which took place just hours before an OPEC+ virtual conference at which the group was expected to extend its supply cuts to the end of first quarter, had traders scrambling for the reason behind the sale. A person stated that the bank sold 4,000 barrels of U.S.
US natgas price slump forces March-April widow maker' Futures into Contango
The price of U.S. Natural Gas Futures for April 2020 traded higher on Tuesday than it did for March 2025, a move that some analysts say signals the market is already giving up expectations for much higher prices in the winter. The April futures traded at a premium of up to 0.5 cents for every million British thermal units. In intraday trading on Tuesday. The winter storage withdrawal period runs from November to March. April is the start of the summer storage injection period, which runs from April to October.
Freeport LNG liquefaction train at Texas export plant shuts
Freeport LNG reported to state regulators on Thursday that one of the three liquefaction train at its export plant in Texas was shut down on Wednesday. Freeport stated that Train 3 was tripped during operation due to a problem with a lube-oil pump. This caused an emissions event which lasted for more than 11 hour from Wednesday evening until early Thursday morning. The state report did not include any details about the company's plans to restart. U.S. Natural Gas Futures fell after the news.
US natural gas drillers will increase output in 2025, reversing a year-long cut
The U.S. Natural Gas producers will increase output in 2025 after a series production cuts this past year. Rising demand from LNG export plants should raise prices, which had dropped to multi-decade lows. According to the latest U.S. Energy Information Administration outlook, U.S. natural gas production will decline in 2024, for the first drop since 2020 when the COVID epidemic reduced demand. After the average monthly spot price at the U.S. Henry hub benchmark, drillers started cutting back on gas production.
EIA increases US and global oil production estimates by a small amount
The U.S. Energy Information Administration announced on Wednesday that both U.S. oil production and global oil output are expected to reach record highs in this year, slightly higher than previous forecasts. Oil prices have fallen to their lowest level since 2021 despite the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) and its allies cutting production. The EIA reported that the U.S. oil production is expected to reach an average of 13.23 million barrels a day (bpd), which is about 300,000 more than last year's 12.93 million bpd record.
EIA says that US power consumption will reach new highs by 2024 and 25.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration stated in its Wednesday Short Term Energy Outlook that the U.S. will reach record levels of power consumption in 2024-2025. EIA projects that the demand for electricity will increase to 4,090 kilowatt hours in 2024, and 4,158 kWh in 2020. This compares to 4,012 billion kWh by 2023, and a record of 4,067 in 2022. EIA predicted that by 2024, residential customers would purchase 1,492 billions of kWh, commercial customers 1,426 billions kWh, and industrial customers 1,027 billions kWh.
Henry Hub natgas price drops to a 25-year low, while Waha is in negative territory
According to LSEG's pricing data, U.S. natural gas spot prices fell to a new 25-year low in Louisiana at the Henry Hub benchmark and entered negative territory at the Waha hub for the 47th consecutive time. The energy traders noted that the mild weather this year has had a negative impact on Henry Hub prices next day, resulting in lower heating and cooling demands than usual. LSEG reports that Henry Hub futures have been under pressure due to the low prices of next-day Henry Hub contracts.
Baker Hughes reports that US drillers have added oil and gas rigs to their fleet for the first time in 4 weeks.
Baker Hughes, a leading energy services company, said that the U.S. added oil and gas rigs this week for the first time since four weeks. The number of oil and gas rigs, a good indicator of future production, increased by one in the week ending October 11. Baker Hughes reported that the total number of rigs was down by 36 or 6% compared to this time last. Baker Hughes reported that oil rigs increased by two this week to 481. Gas rigs dropped by one, to 101. Pennsylvania saw two drillers reduce their rigs to 13 - the lowest number since July 2016.
Maryland Cove Point LNG Export Plant of Berkshire Hathaway shut down for maintenance
According to a notice sent to customers, U.S. energy company Berkshire Hathaway Energy closed its Cove Point LNG export plant in Maryland during the annual autumn maintenance period of about three weeks. According to data from the financial firm LSEG, the amount of natural gases flowing into the plant has dropped to almost zero since August 1, when it averaged around 0.7 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd). Since mid-October 2023, when it was returned to service from its previous autumn maintenance outage, the plant has averaged around 0.8 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of LNG.
EIA: US power consumption will reach new highs by 2024 and 25.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA's) Short Term Energy Outlook, released on Tuesday, predicted that the U.S. electricity consumption would reach record levels in 2024-2025. EIA projects that the demand for electricity will increase to 4,093 kilowatt hours (kWh) by 2024, and 4,163 kWh by 2025. This compares to 4,000 billion kWh by 2023, and a record setting 4,067 trillion kWh by 2022. EIA predicted that by 2024, the number of power sales for residential customers would increase to 1…
EIA: US natgas production will decline in 2024 as demand reaches record levels, EIA reports
The U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA's) Short Term Energy Outlook, released on Tuesday, predicted that U.S. Natural Gas production would decline by 2024 and demand would rise to a new record. EIA projects that dry gas production in the US will fall from a record high of 103.8 billion cubic foot per day (bcfd), in 2023, to 103.5 bcfd by 2024. In March, the number of people who were unemployed fell to its lowest level in 32 years. EIA's projected production for 2025 is 104.6 bcfd.
